Critics who advocate encouraging pregnant teenagers to marry are mistaken. Teen marriages are distinctly less stable than marriages that occur after age twenty. Later marriers are less likely to be on welfare and are likely to have more education and fewer children. A hasty marriage makes a bad situation worse. (BJV)

New studies demonstrate that many teen marriages are more resilient than had previously been believed; current policies promote single parenthood for teen mothers in the face of very little systemic information about young fathers and their potential for being providers, husbands, or parents. Marriage is a feasible option for many pregnant…

Comments on "The Timing of a First Birth and High School Completion" (Dawn M. Upchurch and James McCarthy) (1990). In considering relationships between adolescent childbearing and completion of high school, Upchurch and McCarthy misinterpret socioeconomic data. Their conclusion that young mothers are no less likely to graduate from high school is…