Adolescent Pregnancy

• Every year almost one million teenage girls become pregnant.
• More than half of them are 17 years old or younger when they have their first pregnancy.
• Approximately one-third of the girls who get pregnant carry their pregnancies to term and keep their babies.
• About another third have abortions, and the other third has spontaneous miscarriages.
• Only about five percent of pregnant girls put their babies up for adoption.
• Approximately 40 percent of young women become pregnant before they reach 20 years old.
• The United States of America has double the adolescent pregnancy and birth rates of any other industrialized country.
• The poorer the young woman, the more likely she will become a mother.
• Less than one-third of teens who have babies before the age of 18 finish high school.
• Almost half of all teen mothers end up on welfare.
• Less than 25 percent of births to teens occur within wedlock.
• The birth rate for teens has been declining in recent years, especially among African American girls (this is good news).

Check out our teen development information

Possible Solutions

• Detecting girls with depression/low self-esteem when they are children or in very early adolescence.
• Doing all we can to ensure that girls have effective male role models, especially if their natural fathers are not active in their lives.
• Making sure that all teens are educated in how to avoid unwanted sexual activity.
• Making sure all teens know about effective contraception if they do choose to have sex.
• Making sure that teens know the risks that are caused by alcohol and drug use and that those with substance abuse problems are detected and treated.