The prevalence of teenage pregnancy in the United States has been viewed as a major social problem because of its effects on the teen parent/s, their families, communities, and the larger society. Various researchers have tried to determine the primary causes and effects of teenage pregnancy. According to most studies, teenage pregnancy is primarily caused by sexual abuse, poverty, lack of knowledge, and alcoholism. These causes lead to serious consequences such as physical and mental disabilities for the infant and social and economic difficulties for the mother. This essay analyzes and discusses these causes and effects, and tries to provide some feasible recommendations for the prevention of teenage pregnancy.

Introduction

Every year the number of teenage parents is increasing at an alarming rate. Despite the clarity of the facts, the topics surrounding adolescent parenthood are made difficult by our inconsistent behaviors and perspectives. The influences of sex are on display on the airwaves; younger girls are now being shown as objects of sexual desire; everything from news to fashion is being used to sell sex. Yet it is shocking to society that the number of teens who are deciding to become sexually active is on the rise. There are four major contributing factors to teenage pregnancy which are sexual abuse, poverty, lack of knowledge and alcoholism. The possible major consequences of teenage pregnancy are physical and mental disabilities for the infant and social and economic difficulties for the mother. [thesis statement] In order to come up with effective solutions, parents, teachers and the community must become involved and be willing to move past being in shock over the issue and the mere denial that this is truly a problem and be willing to separate fact from assumption and present alternatives to teenage parenthood. Creating operable resolutions will require the honest acknowledgment that much is still not fully understood about the causes of teenage pregnancy (Sams 2008).

Recent Trends in Teenage Pregnancy

Due to an increase in high-risk sexual behaviors, the prevalence of teenage pregnancy escalated throughout the latter part of the 20th century. The United States has one of the biggest numbers of pregnant teenagers among developed countries, and the numbers are continuously increasing. In 1996, roughly 1,011,000 infants were born to adolescents in the U.S. (Cherry, Dillon, & Rugh, 2001, 183). However, the rate of teenagers becoming pregnant was declining for many years, but it’s increasing again. According to the report that released in March by the National Center for Health Statistics, the teen birth rate has increased from 5 between 2005 and 2007. In 2007, Centers for Disease Control Youth Risk Behavior survey reveals that the declines in teenage sexual activity increase and teenage contraceptive use have come to a standstill. About one-fourth teenage mothers have a second child within 24 months, which makes it harder for them to finish school, keep a job or escape from poverty. Eight out of 10 fathers do not marry the teen mother of their child, and daughters of teenage mothers are most likely to become teen mothers themselves (Wright, 2009). The children born to teenage mothers are twice as likely to suffer abuse and neglect. Most teens who are 17 and under don’t graduate from high school and only 2 earn a college degree by the age 30 (Wright, 2009). In 2011, the rate of teenage pregnancy in the U.S. dropped dramatically. Although the decline in the prevalence of teenage pregnancy in the U.S. is an encouraging development, a huge population of American teenagers have unplanned, usually unwanted, pregnancies annually, raising unfavorable consequences for adolescent parents and their children (Bromberg & O’Donohue, 2013). For instance, adolescent mothers are more prone to experience poverty, discontinue their education, and their children often develop developmental and health-related difficulties.