A Look at Teen Parenting Statistics

Teen parenting statistics will show that teen parenting is still a rising occurrence in today’s society despite widely available sex education and numerous birth control methods. Teen parenting statistics also indicate that teenage parents and their child are both at a disadvantage in terms of health, education, and finances.

Teenage mothers face higher health risks than mothers at an older age. Such heath risks include anemia, pregnancy-related high blood pressure, underweight birth, premature delivery, and even death. Majority of these risks result from the fact that most teenage mothers lack prenatal care and not because of immature physical development. According to teenage parenting statistics, about forty percent of teenage mothers did not receive quality or adequate care during pregnancy, resulting in their children born with poor health.

In terms of education, teen parenting statistics show that while it has become socially accepted for teenage mothers to stay in school, unfortunately, an alarming 80 percent of them either choose or feel the need to drop out and only fifty percent of teenage parents who had their first child during the early teenage years will finish high school before they reach thirty. Additionally, teen parenting statistics indicate that it is more likely for someone who has had a child between twenty to twenty four years old to finish college than someone who becomes a parent before the age of nineteen.

The result of this situation is that the child or children of these teenage parents generally exhibit lower cognitive development compared to their peers. These children have the tendency to become underachievers academically and are more likely to become school drop outs, too. Teen parenting statistics also point out that these kids start to engage in sex earlier than most of their peers and have a higher tendency to repeat their parent’s past and become teenage parents also.

Economically, teenage parents who are not able to achieve a high school diploma or finish a GED program generally will experience more difficulty in finding a secure and well-paying job. This is evident in teen parenting statistics showing women who had children after the age of 20 earn twice as much as women who were teenage mothers. In addition, ten percent of teenage mothers are not receiving child support from the child’s father and forty percent rely on various government assistance programs such as food stamps in order to get by.

If you are a teen parent, the present and future challenges of raising your child may be too much for you to bear. If family, friends or your supposed partner is not offering help, keep in mind that you are not alone and that there are many organizations willing to help you.