Why is Teenage Pregnancy Still on the Rise?

We celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the pill recently and many have written about its power to reduce poverty, including Nicholas Kristof from the New York Times last week. In another New York Times Op-ed titled, Promises the Pill Could Never Keep,”Elaine Tyler May goes as far to say that American women, “no longer need to choose between having a family and a career.” But can we say this for all women, particularly poor women and women of color? And why have teenage pregnancies increased since 2005?

Access to contraceptives is crucial to decreasing teenage pregnancy, as Rocio Cordoba from the California Latinas for Reproductive Justice asserted last month on the Huffington Post. She claims that underserved youth of color do not get quality health services and education, which leads to inequitable health outcomes like teenage pregnancy. 

However, providing meaningful opportunities is an often-overlooked strategy to decreasing teenage pregnancy. Ironically, in Kathryn Edin and Maria Kafalas’s 2005 nuanced account, Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage hundreds of poor teenage mothers from diverse ethnic backgrounds are interviewed and many say they are indifferent about getting pregnant because a baby brings the, “purpose…and the order that young women feel have been so sorely lacking.” Some say that life had, “spun completely out of control,” and that becoming pregnant helped them move beyond their truant ways with drugs, sex, and skipping school. (These accounts might remind some readers of the film Precious. In other words, because these young women do not see bright career-oriented futures ahead of them, a baby can provide meaning in an otherwise purpose-less existence.

Then we must ask, is the choice of a career still unattainable to poor teenage women? To many young women, especially teenage mothers, college and a good career are fantasies. Fewer than 2% of teenage mothers finish college, and since the pill was released in 1960, poor communities have grown more concentrated with fewer middle class adults modeling career paths beyond poverty.

But after school and summer programs that provide employment, means of self expression, and advocacy are meaningful ways that young women can see adults in desirable careers and give them a sense of control, options, and confidence to pursue their interests. And supporting these programs costs far less than children. The San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and Families asserts that effective programs save up to about $5 for every $1 spent because fewer youth commit crimes, and other research has shown that programs save costs by increasing graduation rates and decreasing teenage pregnancy. Unfortunately, the California government and private funding sources have significantly decreased funding for out-of-school time programs. It is suddenly up to us as individuals to do what we can to promise all young women both the choice of having a family and a career.