This paper examines two aspects of teen childbearing in the United States. First, it reviews and synthesizes the evidence on the reasons why teen birth rates are so uniquely high in the United States and especially in some states. Second, it considers why and how it matters. We argue that economists' typical explanations are unable to account for…

Can the use of a method such as role play help reduce sexual risk behaviour among KwaZulu-Natal learners? A study was undertaken of the use of role plays by Grade 8 learners, at eight urban and rural KwaZulu-Natal high schools, as part of a programme to reduce the prevalence of teenage pregnancy. Within the framework of Bandura's Social Cognitive…

This document reports on the feasibility of requiring private insurance carriers to provide coverage of the pregnancy-related expenses of dependent minors and newborn care expenses of their offspring in Texas. The document relates the history of legislative interest in the topic of teenage pregnancy. The report states that although private medical…

Adolescent pregnancy is examined from 2 viewpoints: (1) the marital status of young adolescent girls who become mothers at a too young age is less relevant to the social problem of adolescent pregnancy than the attendant adverse effects, i.e., adolescent pregnancy, per se, rather than illegitimacy is the social problem; and (2) too early marriage…

Measured self-esteem of 93 unmarried adolescent females upon entry into several state-sponsored training programs. Discovered significant differences concerning the impact of early motherhood on subjects. Symbolic importance of motherhood, as a passage into adult status, and intervening effects of normative group anchorage may mediate between…

A hearing before the Subcommittee on Select Education of the House Committee on Education and Labor is transcribed. A discussion is presented which centers on H.R.12146, whose purposes are: (1) to establish a program for developing networks of community-based services to prevent initial and repeat pregnancies among adolescents; (2) to provide care…

Evaluated effects of a year-long, school-based program for 126 white adolescent girls. Program was designed to improve self-concept, expectations for future, educational plans, perceptions of maternal acceptance, and other perceptions. Intervention participants revealed less traditional sex role orientations, improved self-concept, and lessened…

This research study compared the self-concept of women who had chosen first trimester abortion to those who were sexually active but had never experienced pregnancy. Subjects were stratified according to age groups: 13-19, 20-29, and 30 years of age and over. The sample was selected from clients of an intercity abortion agency and students of an…

Examined teen mothers' (N=94) romanticism and self-esteem so as to investigate these variables' relationships among ten independent variables, (e.g., age and sexual activity). Results indicate that five variables were significantly related to romanticism (previous abortion, etc.), whereas two variables were connected to self-esteem (age and birth…

Author attempted to consider anew the unmarried mother as a person, the life in which she comes to us, and the ways in which we might be helpful. (Author/RK)

This investigation examines whether access to social capital reduces the chance that teens will cohabit or have a nonmaritally conceived birth. Using data from a nationally representative panel study of eighth-grade girls and their parents, we hypothesize that girls who have (and whose families have) dense community ties as well as greater access…

Those interested in critical, feminist, and anti-racist pedagogy are on a search for means to counter dominant ways of speaking about stigmatized groups. Some see promise in popular theater, which starts from the experience of those on the margins. This ethnographic study followed 12 teen mothers, a highly stereotyped group, as they wrote and…

Most research on teenage parenthood is concerned with illegitimacy and its determinants such as attitudes toward sex, contraceptive knowledge and practice, family relationships, and cultural factors. Empirical studies on the consequences of illegitimacy are generally limited to problems of recidivism, school dropouts, and welfare dependency.…

Used data from High School and Beyond Survey to examine impact of knowledge and attitudes on teenage out-of-wedlock childbearing among approximately 10,000 female high school sophomores. Found that sexual knowledge had no effect on chances of respondents having out-of-wedlock children, family values stressing responsibility significantly reduced…