When I graduated in 2011; out of al the girls I graduated with 10 of those girls have had babies. One of them just had her second baby this year. I think more needs to be done to make girls realize that it affects their future, their children’s, the baby’s father, and other family members. I couldn’t imagine having a baby at this age. My cousin became a teen mom at the age of 19 with her long time boyfriend. But, I see the struggle they have to make money to pay the bills. He works two jobs to support her and their child because child care is so expensive. They don’t regret having their son, but they regret dropping out of college.
Teen pregnancy is the leading reason teen girls drop out of school. More than half of teen mothers never graduate, 1.5% of them earn a college degree by the time their 30. About a quarter of them have a second child within two years of their first. Teenage girls in relationships with older boys are more likely to become pregnant, than a teenage girl in a relationship with a boy her own age. Poverty is associated with increased rates of teen pregnancy. 80 % of teen mothers have to go on welfare at some point due to less than one third of teen mothers receive no child support. Girls whose mother or older sister gave birth as a teen are more likely to get pregnant themselves. Teenage parents who can rely on family and community support, social services and child care are more likely to continue with their education and get a higher paying job as they progress with their education. In the United States alone 820,000 teens become pregnant each year. Birth rate in the United States is the highest in the developed world and teen abortion rate is also high. In 2006, the United States teen rate rose for the first time in fourteen years. Canada also trended