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Widespread poverty can prevent families from obtaining adequate food, housing, educational, and health care and from participating in a broad range of community activities. These limitations can impede progress along a path of sustainability by making it harder for the children reared in these families to realize their full potential or to experience a true sense of community.
One of the greatest concerns regarding births to young, single women is that the children of these women are more likely to be reared in poverty. In 1995, 32% of female heads of households with children under 18 years old and no husband present were below the poverty line. In addition, teenage mothers, particularly those who are single, often have a very difficult time in pursuing their education or job training because of the costs and responsibilities of caring for their children.
In 1994, the median income for a two-parent household was $45,041. In contrast, the median income for a single-parent household led by a woman was $19,872. (For black and Hispanic female heads of households, the median income was $14,650 and $13,200, respectively.)
The number of birthst to all teenage mothers decreased from 656,000 in 1970 to 500,000 in 1997; however, the number of births to single teenage mothers increased from 200,000 in 1970 to 390,000 in 1997. In 1970, 30% of the teenage females who had children were single; but by 1997, this percentage had increased to 78%
Despite the large number of single teenage mothers, the majority of single mothers giving birth in recent years were 20 years old or older. In 1997, there were 3.9 million live births to females of all ages in the United States. Single mothers of all ages accounted for 32% of these 3.9 million births; about 10% of all births were to single teenage mothers, while 17% of all births were to single mothers ages 20 through 29.
Between 1970 and 1997, births to single white women increased by 355% resulting in 25.8% of all white births in 1997 being to single women. During the same period, births to single black women increased by 93%, resulting in 69.1% of black births being to single women. Most of this increase occurred during the 1980s. More recently, between 1994 and 1997, births to single white and black women have stabilized, increasing very little. These long-term trends are linked to delays in marriage, declines in birth rates for married women, and increases in birth rates for unmarried women.
Pregnancies among teenagers can have serious implications for the health and future well-being of the children born. For example, teenage pregnancies are more likely to result in the birth of low birth weight infants. In 1996, 6.9% of all of the infants born to non-smokers had low birth weights (under 2500 grams); but for mothers 15 to 19 years old, 9.3% of the babies born had low birth weights; and for mothers under 15 years old, 13.2% of the babies born had low birth weights. Low birth weights can be associated with a range of medical and developmental complications.
References:
• Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1996, Tables 14, 92, 98, 113, and 713.
• Ventura, S.J., Births to Unmarried Mothers: United States, 1980-1992. National Center for Health Statistics, Series 21, Number 53, 1995.
• Ventura, S.J., Martha, J.A., Curtin, S.C., Mathew, T.J. Report of final natility statistics, 1996, Monthly Vital Statistics Report, Vol. 46, No. 11, Supplement. Hyattsville, Maryland, National Center for Health Statistics, 1998.
Link(s) to be added, when feasible, to data at level of detail suitable for use at the community level.
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http://www.sdi.gov/indicators/lc_birth.htm Last Modified: May 13, 2002 |