In his well-known article "The Coming White Underclass" and other writings Charles Murray has suggested that welfare is the primary cause of out-of-wedlock childbearing. He contends that welfare, including Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), food stamps, and subsidized housing, should be eliminated. While Murray's views have…

The Family Support Act of 1988 presented states with a unique opportunity to address the needs of pregnant and parenting teens. The Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Public Welfare have seized this opportunity and are leading the nation in combining their programmatic and fiscal resources to expand the state's teen parent initiative. The…

This digest reviews trends in adolescent sexual activity and discusses conceptual and programmatic approaches to pregnancy prevention. It discusses a pregnant adolescent's choices for resolving an unplanned pregnancy (i.e. abortion, adoption, keeping the baby, and marriage), and the challenges faced by teenage parents. The final section touches on…

This report presents ethnographic case studies of the life circumstances and experiences of 18 low-income adolescents who participated in Project Redirection, a national program which provides educational and family planning services at the local level to pregnant teens and mothers. Information on the teens' family background, patterns of…

This speech presents an overview of issues and trends in the provision of foster care and adoption services in Canada. The number of children "in care" in Canada (in foster homes, institutions, or adoptive homes) appears to have peaked around 1969 and declined thereafter. Information on contraceptives and the availaibility of abortions…

Local education agency responses to student pregnancy and parenthood are constrained by narrow definitions of the problem, opposition to sex education, contraception, and abortion, disagreement about the appropriate school role, lack of expertise, and lack of incentives to develop programs. Nationwide field studies were conducted to assess 12…

The hypothesis that adolescent mothers have more negative attitudes toward child rearing than more mature mothers was investigated in this study. Twenty-one adolescent mothers between the ages of 13 and 19 years were compared to 12 mature mothers who ranged in age from 21 to 34 years. A 12-item questionnaire was administered to the subjects who…

This guide, one of a series of Education for Parenthood manuals developed for use in Salvation Army demonstration programs, outlines a course for pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers in residential centers. The 4-day-a-week program, with sessions of 1 to 2 hours, was planned to fit school and work schedules of residents. Weekly schedules…

This workbook is part of the series, which describes the goals and objectives of schools and classes for pregnant minors, the financial assistance provided by the California Legislature, and the legal implications. This volume is designed for girls who stay in the special program for pregnant minors after delivery and until they attain a high…

This project provides educational services to school-age mothers not attending a regular school to allow them to continue their education without interruption and to reduce their tendency to drop out. In close communication with school counselors and social workers, the program facilitates academic progress toward graduation and return to the…

This report describes a pilot project that is investigating the childrearing practices of individuals who have chosen living arrangements different from the traditional two-parent family. Alternative life styles include these groups: (1) unmarried parents who live together, (2) single or unwed mothers, and (3) participants in communes. Depth…

In this booklet, charts and graphs present data from four divisions of the National Center for Health Statistics. The divisions represented are those concerned with vital statistics (births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages and divorces); health interview statistics (information on health and demographic factors related to illness); health…

Cleveland's Comprehensive School-Age Parenting Program focuses on the following: (1) providing preventive health education to give middle school students a sense of identity and self-awareness; (2) preventing the mother from dropping out; and (3) helping the father cope with the situation and remain in school. (PS)

This publication reports trends in teen childbearing in the Nation, in each state, and in large cities using data from the 2000 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Rates of teenage childbearing steadily declined during the 1990s, reaching a record low in 2000. Rates declined for both younger and older teens and for blacks, whites, and…

Study examined perceptions of pregnancy, including life-expectations, desire for pregnancy, and knowledge of menstrual cycle in a sample of pregnant urban adolescents. Results indicate that, although teens were aware of birth control methods, they had little understanding of menstrual cycle and its relationship to intercourse. And while few…