Moore and associates compared outcomes among
children of teen and nonteen mothers, using a set of
standard statistical controls in their analyses for ma-
ternal background factors and other characteristics.
They found that children of teen mothers experi-
enced a significantly lower quality home environ-
ment, and children born to teens aged seventeen or
younger were at a significant disadvantage with re-
spect to cognitive development and academic
achievement. Using their sister-pair strategy as a
more comprehensive way to control mothers’ back-
ground disadvantage, Geronimus and colleagues
found that children of teen mothers actually did bet-
ter than children of nonteen mothers on several cog-
nitive and achievement tests; and on other tests, no
significant differences among the children were ob-
served.
In sum, research findings highlight the impor-
tant and previously underemphasized role that disad-
vantaged conditions prior to pregnancy play in the
poor outcomes seen among teen mothers and their
children. There is general consensus that earlier
studies exaggerated the consequences of teen child-
bearing because they failed to effectively take these
background factors into account. The true nature and
the extent of the outcomes caused by teen childbear-
ing remain controversial, largely due to the fact that
the data currently available with which to study them
have significant limitations. More definitive answers
will require the development of larger and more de-
tailed surveys that follow childbearing women and
their children over longer periods of time, as well as
improved research methods for quantifying causal ef-
fects with increased certainty.
Public Policy and Teenage Pregnancy
Just as there is a lack of consensus about the con-
sequences of teenage pregnancy, the optimal focus
for public policy and intervention is also in dispute.
Some experts reason that because the disadvantaged
circumstances in which many women grow up are a
predominant factor impacting teen birth rates, poli-
cies and programs would be most effectively directed
at ameliorating that disadvantage and developing
positive life options for young women. Others, howev-
er, maintain that in the absence of conclusive research
findings to the contrary, targeted interventions such
as the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
initiated in 1996 have potential benefits and should
continue to be pursued.
It is clear that teenage pregnancy fell steadily
over the 1990s in the United States, with reductions
seen for each of the three pregnancy outcomes (live
births, induced abortions, and fetal losses). The Na-
tional Center for Health Statistics noted several con-
current trends related to teen pregnancy rates over
this period. First, rates of sexual activity among teen-
agers appear to have stabilized and perhaps declined,
as measured by teens’ responses in several national
surveys. In addition, increases have been reported in
condom use and in the availability and adoption of
other effective birth control methods including inject-
able and implantable contraceptives. These behavior-
al trends may well have been influenced by
educational and contraceptive-related intervention
programs; however, it is also important to note that
they occurred during a period of remarkable, sus-
tained economic expansion. This expansion in-
creased the opportunities available to teenagers,
making higher educational and occupational goals
more desirable and attainable and in the process pro-
viding a powerful impetus for behavior change.See also: BIRTH; FATHERS; POVERTY; PREGNANCY;
SEX EDUCATION; SEXUAL ACTIVITYBibliography
Curtin, Sally C., and Joyce A. Martin. ‘‘Births: Preliminary Data for
1999.’’ National Vital Statistics Reports 48 (14). Hyattsville, MD:
National Center for Health Statistics, 2000.
East, Patricia, and Leanne Jacobson. ‘‘Adolescent Childbearing,
Poverty, and Siblings: Taking New Direction from the New
Literature.’’ Family Relations 49 (2000):287–292.
Geronimus, Arline, and Sanders Korenman. ‘‘The Socioeconomic
Consequences of Teen Childbearing Reconsidered.’’ Quarterly
Journal of Economics 107 (1992):1187–1214.
Geronimus, Arline, and Sanders Korenman. ‘‘Maternal Youth or
Family Background? On the Health Disadvantages of Infants
with Teen Mothers.’’ American Journal of Epidemiology 137
(1993):213–225.
Geronimus, Arline, Sanders Korenman, and Marianne Hillemeier.
‘‘Does Young Maternal Age Adversely Affect Child Develop-
ment? Evidence from Cousin Comparisons in the United
States.’’ Population and Development Review 20 (1994):585–609.
Hoffman, Saul. ‘‘Teenage Childbearing Is Not So Bad After All... Or Is It? A Review of the New Literature.’’ Family Planning
Perspectives 30 (1998):236–249.
Hotz, V. Joseph, Susan McElroy, and Seth Sanders. ‘‘The Impacts
of Teenage Childbearing on the Mothers and the Conse-
quences of Those Impacts for Government.’’ In Rebecca A.
Maynard ed., Kids Having Kids. Washington DC: Urban Insti-
tute Press, 1997.
Moore, Kristin, Donna Morrison, and Angela Greene. ‘‘Effects on
the Children Born to Adolescent Mothers.’’ In Rebecca May-
nard ed., Kids Having Kids. Washington DC: Urban Institute
Press, 1997.
National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Statistics of the United
States, 1968, Vol. 1: Natality. Washington: Public Health Ser-
vice, 1970.
National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Statistics of the United
States, 1992, Vol. 1: Natality. Washington: Public Health Ser-
vice, 1995.
‘‘Recent Accomplishments of the National Campaign to
Prevent Teen Pregnancy.’’ Available from http://www.
teenpregnancy.org/accom.htm; INTERNET
404 TEENAGE PREGNANCY