Lecture 20 Teen pregnancy US highest rate of teen pregnancy birth and abortion in industrialized world Record low 1994 2001 due to programs aimed at reducing teen pregnancy 52 of mother s on welfare at any given time are teen mothers Teen mothers not getting married having children out of wedlock Causes Living in poor developments minority families or headed by a female cause higher rates of teen pregnancy Perception of limited life options discouraged to reach goals o Lowered measured abilities No welfare correlation Consequences As young mothers teen moms have o Poorer health o Low birth weight babies stillborns newborn deaths Less likely to finish high school more likely to use welfare More likely to divorce or never marry Higher income women use contraception more successfully Pregnancy more common among low income women 70 of higher income women who become pregnant have abortions Goals of teen pregnancy programs Promote health Change declining rates of marriage Move young families out of poverty Provide better education Support youth development Most successful programs Sexual education Access to contraceptives Youth programs Feminization of poverty this group Disproportionate number of women in poverty more single mothers among Rapid increase 1950 1970 Discrimination among single mothers need of absence lack of commitment o This is illegal but don t have access to lawyer to defend them Less than 20 of all families are female headed 2 3 adults in poverty are women BUT Half of all families in poverty are female headed households 38 of African American female headed households are in poverty UMich study female headed households are 15 times more likely to stay in poverty for 2 straight years than married couples Why feminization of poverty Increase in children born outside of marriage Increase of divorce Delay in age of first marriage Hard to come back to work after you have left Change in economy o Increase of women s labor force participation Gap in earnings has decreased o Men s earnings have stagnated or declined Marry to improve financial situations Changes in public assistance o TANF for younger women o Social security for older women o Bulk of cases are single young mothers and their families o Timeline for how long you can stay on welfare forcing families to find jobs Mothering strategies Agency based services used least by women Must get a job or will lose TANF All our Kin Stack showed how kin networks provide support and stability contributing to African American resilency Many poor women put motherhood before marriage comfort of a child o Want to get financials in order before they marry o Do not want to deal with divorce o Having children outside of marriage is not as abnormal as it used to be Partnership Relationships Limited relationships Perceptions of low income men Edin Burton o Unworthy o Risks due to violence drugs o Anxiety about reliability Cherlin 85 of mothers found that having children in 20s and married was desirable Low income families have similar values as high income families but don t have resources to acquire them Relaxed paternal expectations Fathers be there and provide support for their children and families consistently Flexible maternal role Other women can play role of mother such as aunts grandmothers while mother s work