Teenage pregnancy

waltky

Wise ol' monkey
Feb 6, 2011
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Okolona, KY
Do sisters influence teenage pregnancy?...
:confused:
Teenage pregnancy is 'contagious'
8 August 2011 - Teenage pregnancy is "contagious" between sisters, researchers in the UK and Norway have claimed.
A study of more than 42,000 Norwegian teenage girls suggested they were more likely to become pregnant if their older sister had a baby as a teenager. The effect was greatest when the sisters were of a similar age or from a poorer background. The Family Planning Association said the results may not necessarily apply to the UK but were still interesting. Factors such as family background and level of education are already known to influence teenage pregnancy.

This new research, carried out in conjunction with the University of Bristol, looked at the specific effect sisters have on each other. "Sisters generally spend more time together than schoolmates or friends and so sisters are likely to be influenced by the behaviour of their siblings," the report said. They looked at data from children born between 1947 and 1958 to compare families from a similar background from different regions of Norway.

'Sister effect'

The researchers said the probability of the younger sister having a teenage pregnancy went from one in five to two in five if the elder sister had a baby as a teenager. Spending more time in school did reduce the probability of a teenage pregnancy, but on a much smaller scale than the effect of a pregnant sister.

One of the researchers, Professor Carol Propper, described this as "the contagious effect of teen motherhood". She said, "Two groups were particularly vulnerable - those in low income households and sisters close in age." She argued that any "sister effect" would wear off as the age gap increased because the siblings would be on "different life trajectories", whereas those of similar ages would have similar social circles.

More BBC News - Teenage pregnancy is 'contagious'
 
I think a bigger factor is if the mother was pregnant as a teenager...

... like mother, like daughter.

That's also true, waltky. Chances are at least as good as not that a teenage girl growing up in a household where such behavior patterns as teenage pregnancies existed among the mothers, will follow that particular pattern and become pregnant herself as a teenager. Once the cycle is established, it can be tough to break, but some people have done it.

I'll also add that most of the girls who end up that way come from backgrounds where an interest in an education of any kind doesn't thrive, and an awful lot of girls like that don't finish school. They're not interested, and they don't care.

I did read about a woman from a lower socioeconomic background who became pregnant at a young age, and decided to have an abortion, which she was glad that she did, because the timing for having a kid, as well as her age, was all wrong. Had she had the kid at that time, when she was busy with her future, she would've ended up permanently sidetracked, and condemned to a life of welfare dependency and/or a really menial job (most likely without benefits, to support herself and her child) to support herself and the child.

That same gal, when she got to be a young woman, when she went onto college and then to law school, became a successful lawyer, married, and had a child that, the last time I read about it, was two years old. Those who say that the young woman was wrong to abort her child due to timing and lack of maturity are the ones who're wrong. They don't seem to realize that timing also has everything to do with it, whether a woman wants a child or not, and that bad timing can and often enough will permanently sidetrack a girl or young woman.

I also might add that a pregnancy that occurs in a girl or woman under the age of 20 is often not only quite hazardous to the child, but to the mother as well, due to the fact that that mother is not yet fully matured physically, and stands the risk of not only having a premature baby, or a baby with severe developmental problems because the baby can't get proper nutrition, but that the mother's metabolism at that age isn't ready to handle bearing a child.
 
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I think a bigger factor is if the mother was pregnant as a teenager...

... like mother, like daughter.

Unless you have research to back up your 'I think', then it really isn't relevant. That's kind of the point of research.
 
This is from wiki, but it's common sense.

Studies have also found that girls whose fathers left the family early in their lives had the highest rates of early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy. Girls whose fathers left them at a later age had a lower rate of early sexual activity, and the lowest rates are found in girls whose fathers were present throughout their childhood. Even when the researchers took into account other factors that could have contributed to early sexual activity and pregnancy, such as behavioral problems and life adversity, early father-absent girls were still about five times more likely in the United States and three times more likely in New Zealand to become pregnant as adolescents than were father-present girls.[

Teenage pregnancy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The article also mentions that YOUNGER sisters were most likely to want to emulate their pregnant sisters. That's common sense too. Babies are cute. Just like dolls. :(
 
This is from wiki, but it's common sense.

Studies have also found that girls whose fathers left the family early in their lives had the highest rates of early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy. Girls whose fathers left them at a later age had a lower rate of early sexual activity, and the lowest rates are found in girls whose fathers were present throughout their childhood. Even when the researchers took into account other factors that could have contributed to early sexual activity and pregnancy, such as behavioral problems and life adversity, early father-absent girls were still about five times more likely in the United States and three times more likely in New Zealand to become pregnant as adolescents than were father-present girls.[

Teenage pregnancy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The article also mentions that YOUNGER sisters were most likely to want to emulate their pregnant sisters. That's common sense too. Babies are cute. Just like dolls. :(

I wish they would research WHY young girls in the UK emulate their siblings and get pregnant. I am interested in whether Britain's welfare system is an enticement... if you get pregnant, you get a house, benefits, etc for at least 5 years.
 
Certainly that is an enticement, but not the whole story. A few years ago one of my students was pregnant at the same time as her sister and MOTHER. No men in the picture. The checks might have been an enticement, but I suspect it was just their "normal". A family tradition of sorts... :cuckoo:

My biggest concern is the SECOND child statistic.
One-fourth of adolescent mothers will have a second child within 24 months of the first. Factors that determine which mothers are more likely to have a closely-spaced repeat birth include marriage and education: the likelihood decreases with the level of education of the young woman – or her parents – and increases if she gets married.[28]


One can be a mistake; two is on purpose.
 
We used to have a special school where teen moms could finish high school, learn job skills, and most importantly, how to take care of their babies. They eliminated the program because it did not meet the "core curriculum standards". The state thinks physics and French are more important . I accept that many of these young women will be nothing more than welfare moms. Can't we train them to be "good welfare moms"? Err!
 
Might as well have some facts:

Teen Pregnancy Statistics in the US
Most Teen Pregnancies are Unplanned
By Linda Lowen, About.com Guide
1. Three-quarters of a million teens between 15 and 19 become pregnant each year.
2. Very few teens who become mothers plan on doing so.
Out of all teen pregnancies, 82% are unintended. Teen pregnancy accounts for 20% of all unplanned pregnancies annually.
3. Two-thirds of teen pregnancies occur among teens 18-19 years old.
4. Teen mothers account for 11% of all births in the US.
5. Out of all teen pregnancies, 57% end in birth.
Another 14% end in miscarriage.
6. Nearly a third of pregnant teenagers choose abortion.
Out of all teenage pregnancies, 29% are terminated by abortion.
7. Black teens have the highest teen pregnancy rate.
For young women age 15-19, black teens are most likely to become pregnant (134 per 1,000 women). Slightly lower rates occur among Hispanics (131 per 1,000) followed by non-Hispanic whites (48 per 1,000).
8. Teens who become pregnant are less likely to attend college.
Although teenage mothers today are more likely to finish high school or earn their GEDs than in the past, pregnant teens are less likely to attend college than teens who do not become pregnant.
9. US teen pregnancy rates are higher than those of other developed countries.
US rates are twice as high as in England and Wales or Canada, and eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.
10. Teen pregnancy rates declined between 1991 and 2005 but are on the rise again.
The teen pregnancy rate reached an all-time high in 1990 with an estimated 116.9 per thousand and an all-time high birth rate of 61.8 births per thousand in 1991. By 2002, the pregnancy rate had dropped to 75.4 per thousand - a decline of 36%. However, a December 2007 report by the Centers for Disease Control shows a 3% increase in teenage pregnancy from 2005 to 2006.

Ten Facts on Teen Pregnancy in the United States - Teenage Pregnancy Rates in the US - Teen Mothers
 
mplo wrote: ...and that bad timing can and often enough will permanently sidetrack a girl or young woman.

Not to mention that more often than not, it traps the child in a cycle of poverty as a child and welfare when they become an adult.
:cool:
 
I think a bigger factor is if the mother was pregnant as a teenager...

... like mother, like daughter.

Not neccessarly.....my mother had me when she was 33 yrs old. She had lived a life already, worked, had boyfriends, went to school, was married etc. but decided to have me at age 33.
Now days they say that age can cause complications during pregnancy. On the other hand I had a beautiful daughter at age of 16. My doctor told me that was a good age to have a baby because i was healthy and strong. Of course maybe mentally i wasnt fully prepared.
 
I know Bristol and Levi are "spokespeople". I just can't figure out if it's for or against.
 

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