Jezebel
Mere months after pundits bemoaned the Juno effect following the release of statistics showing that teen pregnancy was on the rise in 2005-6, the CDC released a slew of new statistics yesterday reporting that teen pregnancy rates are falling drastically. What gives? Well, the first set of statistics were just for the years 2005 and 2006, whereas the figures released yesterday were gathered from 1990-2004. In 2004, only 12% of total births were to teenagers; in 1990 the rate was 15%. As for the upswing in teen pregnancies after 2004, CDC researcher Stephanie Ventura says, "It's way too early to know if this is the start of a new trend, but given the long-term progress we've witnessed, this change is notable."
Among the other longterm trends noted in the report released yesterday: Pregnancies have risen steadily among single women in their 20s, and nearly half the babies born (45 percent) were born to unwed mothers. And, according to a (not biased at all!) study sponsored by four groups who consider themselves part of the "marriage movement," unwed mothers are costing taxpayers more than $112 billion a year. The sponsored research was conducted by Georgia State University economist Ben Scafidi, and, reports MSNBC, the statistics "were based on the assumption that households headed by a single female have relatively high poverty rates, leading to higher spending on welfare, health care, criminal justice and education for those raised in the disadvantaged homes." Economics professor Tim Smeeding offers a dissenting opinion to those who think marriage is the answer to those ballooning taxpayer costs: "I have nothing against marriage — relationship-building is great. But alone it's not going to do the job. A full-employment economy would probably be the best thing — decent, stable jobs."
Teen Birth Rate Rises For First Time In 14 Years [CDC]
Pregnancy Rate Drops For U.S. Women Under Age 25 [CDC]
Fewer U.S. teens Are Getting Pregnant: Study [Reuters]
Study: Divorce, Unwed Parenting Costs Billions [MSNBC]
Earlier: Teenage Pregnancies On The Upswing; Is Angelina To Blame?
Comments
Best t-shirt ever: "Focus on your own damn family."
Teenage Pregnancy. Dont do it!
Oh great. This can only mean that they'll try saying abstinence education is working. NOPE.
Shut your gob, marriage movement!
Oh, so we should blame unwed mothers for our budget problems? How much is this fucking war costing us again?
I find the statistics on teen STDs much more disturbing.
@AthertonMerriweather: yeah... between this and the rise in STD rates... clearly abstinence only is the way to go!
Yes and then they whinge about women in their 30's delaying marriage and having babies. Jesus.
Gee, would the marriage movement like to get on the maternity leave problem or the lack of subsidized day care? Because those are actual problems, as opposed to this other stuff that is mostly high school shit...
@virtualcatlady (formerlycuteasabutton): Women have exactly three years when they must get married, pop out 2 kids, and keep their asses home in the kitchen.
@virtualcatlady (formerlycuteasabutton): For real. There is no pleasing some people!
Soooo am I reading that correctly? Are they saying that us unmarried chicks are a drain on the US Economy? So it's our fault for contributing to the recession?
Damn you vagina, you have to ruin everything, don't you?
a full employment economy? but that would be so HARD. it's much easier to blame women, particularly poor women of color, particularly poor women of color who dare to have SEX. clearly they are the root of all our problems.
I loathe those insufferable "MARRIAGE WORKS" billboards in Baltimore and DC. Yes, because that's all it takes to raise a happy functional family. A freaking wedding certificate. HATE.
@kgibbs: My vagina is the cause of the housing crisis.
Looks like it took 4 years for the effects of the abstinence-only programs to kick in and reverse 14 years of successful sex ed.
But look on the bright side! Unlike Japan and much of Europe, we are not suffering a population decline. And those kids born to poor teenage mothers will provide the cheap unskilled labor to help us compete with China and India. (That was sarcasm, though sometimes I do wonder if there are overarching economic reasons for all these crazy politices.)
Yes--the one thing that ends poverty is marriage. Who ever heard of a married couple not having very much money?
It's both crazy, and impossible.
No one here is presuming a causal relationship like fucking idiots!
@kgibbs: I think that really is the new t-shirt:
VAGINAS RUIN EVERYTHING
I reached a major goal in my life when I turned 20 and realized I could never be an un-wed, teenage mother. Just a poor, disowned, drunk, un-wed 20 year old mother.
Can we blame men for not being marriage-material? I think that's the way to go -- let's start a "stop being a douchebag" movement!
How about the number of unwed fathers? Huh? I hate the bias of language in conversations like this.
Fuck "unwed" anyway. Let's look at the number of babies born to people who can't support them, don't even want them or put no effort into raising them. I bet there are plenty of married people in that category.
@virtualcatlady (formerlycuteasabutton): didn't you know? there's about a six month period when you're 28 and married that its OK to get pregnant without being too young or too old.
Too bad I've already planned my post-grad school bumming around the world trip during my window.
I think once again the solution to the problems of "households headed by a single female single female have relatively high poverty rates, leading to higher spending on welfare, health care, criminal justice and education for those raised in the disadvantaged homes" would be easily addressed by ensuring that all women have access to easy and affordable birth control, and understand how to use it.
@effeteaesthete: Or we can ship them off to work in Chinese nursing homes in 20 years!
What always annoyed me about those "rates" are that they include all teen mothers, including the ones that got married and started a family, but they always IMPLY that they're all unwed and therefore a "problem". 30 years ago, teen mothers were pretty normal because people got married earlier. The unwed mother rate is probably similar; rather, it's probably that people are waiting longer to get married and so that portion of the numbers is dropping.
Or I could just be talking out of my ass.
@LadyNo: It's a win for everyone! Uh, except the kids. And their moms. But they're dirty sluts, so who cares about them.
@AthertonMerriweather: my vagina caused the Iraq war, because it was my vagina with the WMDs, my vagina just framed Hussein
@j_dot: Oh no! My 28 year old window will close in a month and a half! But I too am still in my post-grad school bumming around the world phase. I guess now I'll have to be an OLD mother (should I choose to have kids).
The marriage movement? Why does it feel like this country is steadily regressing? And why are whacko conservative groups getting so much press these days? Why are we legitimizing them? We need to ignore them like the freak fringe movements they are.
@gingerkhan: unwed vaginas ruin everything. maybe too wordy?
If divorce is such a drain on the economy, why is the solution always tend to bolstering marriages that are falling apart rather than preventing marriages from happening in the first place?
I keep seeing all these little celebrity starlets getting knocked up and popping out a beeeeeellion kids at ridiculously young ages.
It didn't always used to be like this, did it? Like, were the big iconic actresses/entertainers of the 80s constantly knocked up at 22?
More and more, most of the career-oriented women I know are waiting to become financially stable before they have kids. I mean, hell, I'm 26 and I can't even think about buying a house yet, let alone have kids. When my mom was my age, she was already married and my mom and my dad owned their home.
I sometimes wonder if the celebutantes are popping out kids because they CAN. Because they're 22, 23, and already have a beeeellion dollars, and can afford an elite cadre of mannies. The rich will always flaunt the stuff that us working shlubs simply can't have, y'know?
But I worry that the burgeoningly-fertile slebs are glamourizing a lifestyle that simply isn't possible for most young women in this day and age. Britney Spears is only a few months older than me and she already has two toddlers. Her little sis is working on her first. And it's not just that--it's portrayals like Knocked Up and Juno that kind of make it all into Not A Big Deal.
And it IS a big deal.
Um, doesn't the average age of the population have a lot to do with this particular statistic?
@TheFormerJuneBronson: Haha-you forget children are just a woman's issue, it isn't like people are the steel or wheat industries and therefore deserving of investment.
@gingerkhan: they should make commercials like they have for the Sour Patch Kids, except with vaginas.
@kgibbs: First they're sour, and then they're sweet?
@tscheese: I think you tapped into the reason why all the celebutantes popping out kids bothers me. They can pop out a kid and go back to their previous lifestyle and the kid will likely be taken care of by some nanny or hired help. They can do this because they have tons of money. Normal people? Not so much. But there seems to be this illusion perpetrated that life just carries on as usual post-baby, with a cute thing to carry around when convenient.
Also, inferential statistics are totally bogus (insert bad keanu reeves impression here)and why do these marriage freaks always forget about divorce?
@KathrynwithaY loves Joan Collins: hahaha, yes. I meant how they fuck everything up, but in the end everyone loves them
I can see the PSA now -- two teenagers in the back of a car:
Amber: Jeff... I think...
Jeff: Yes?
Amber: I think I want you to...
Jeff: Yes?
Amber: I'm ready to... What's that noise?
Voice: STOP RIGHT THERE!
Jeff: Who said that?
Head pokes in through window of car.
Amber and Jeff: Rush Limbaugh?!?!?
Rush: That's right kids, it's Rush. And I'm here to stop you from doing a terrible thing.
Amber: But we just wanted to have unprotected sex!
Rush: Exactly! Don't you realize that if you do this, he's going to impregnate you!?!?!
Jeff: But I...
Amber: I had no idea!
Rush: Furthermore, not only will he knock you up, but statistics show that he'll abandon his duties as a father and leave you raise the child alone, costing America's taxpayer millions of dollars annually.
Amber: You animal!
Car begins rocking as Amber begins pummeling Jeff. Rush pulls head out of car and looks into camera.
Rush: Remember kids: sex leads to pregnancy and pregnancy leads to unwed teenage mothers, and unwed teenage mothers lead to the Democrats furthering the American tax burden. Don't do this to us! Abstinence only! And thanks!
@kgibbs: @CMG: More t-shirts:
MY VAGINA IS A DRAIN ON THE ECONOMY
VAGINAS = BAD CREDIT
@zivah: It's because there isn't a corresponding Unmarriage Movement with any cachet.
Which, I think, suggests a good weekend project for you.
"Marriage solves everything" This naive, ignorant opinion brought to you by the same folks who believe women who get abortions either have no idea what they're doing or enjoy killing babies.
@gingerkhan: New T-Shirt:
My Vagina Is Writing Checks The US Government Can't Cash
@kgibbs: Hahaha, I like that version too.
So, it seems to me that the only way for me to deal with my single, unmarried, childless self is to get an IUD the size of a tree trunk.
@Jerseylicious: Ick, those billboards in DC are creepy! I saw one on 14th street last weekend and just stopped in front of it, staring. I didnt even get what it was saying for a second because my mind couldnt wrap itself around that this was a "get married" advertisement. Unbelievable.
@Our Lady of the Massacre: Just ask Liz Taylor. And Larry King. And Donald Trump. And Reese Witherspoon. And Britney Spears.
@gingerkhan: my vagina is responsible for world hunger
@NefariousNewt: LOVE IT!
@dictator4life1: Yeah, lets blame the men. I dont know a guy under the age of 30 who doesn't recoil in HORROR at the idea of getting married anytime soon, especially those in their early 20's. I have no idea where I would even find a potential husband if I wanted one. The men are totally the reason why I am single--blame them!