Teenage Pregnancy

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In 2008, teen pregnancy and childbirth accounted for nearly $11 billion per year in costs to United States taxpayers for increased health care and foster care(CDC). This is a hotly discussed issue all around our country. More teens are now getting pregnant than ever before. We are seeing it more in high schools, too. With teens becoming parents at such a young age, there many risks for themselves, their children and the economy. Early sexual activity leads to financial issues and poor decision making. Which leads to risky sexual activity without protection. No protection leads to sexually transmitted infections and diseases and pregnancy. Teen pregnancy is a much bigger problem than it is perceived to be.

There a many statistics that show that teens should not have kids before adulthood. There were an estimated 329,797 babies born to teens aged fifteen to nineteen. That is a tremendous amount of children born to parents, who are not even out of their own parents houses. But the sad thing is, the live birth rate is really low. It is roughly, 31.3 per one-thousand women in that age group. So in a sense, they are killing babies by making poor decisions(National). Another downside to teens getting pregnant is that they don’t complete their education. The rate of teen mothers achieving their high school diploma by age twenty-two is only fifty percent. So half of the teenage mothers that get pregnant, get their diploma, but the other half just give up. Another disappointing fact. If teens wouldn’t get pregnant, ninety percent would graduate from high school(CDC). Teenage parents also have a lower chance of going to college. By age thirty, less than two percent earn a college degree. So they have virtually no chance in bettering the li...

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...| HHS.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. .

"Teenage Pregnancy: Medical Risks and Realities." WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. .

"11 Facts About Teen Pregnancy." Do Something. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. .

"Teen Pregnancy & Health Risks to the Baby." - Teen Pregnancy. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. .

"Know the Facts." Stay Teen. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2014. .

"Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health." Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. .

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