Teenage Childbirth and Welfare Dependency

Abstract

A study commissioned to estimate the cost of teenage childbearing to the government through a specific U.S. welfare program Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) has concluded that a woman who bears a child while in her teens is much more likely to be forced to support herself and her children on a low income or to become dependent on welfare assistance than the woman who postpones childbearing. 61% of the surveyed women aged 14-30 living in AFDC households had had their 1st child as a teenager compared with 35% among women living in households with no AFDC recipients. Except for women who give birth at age 15 or younger the older the mother at her 1st birth the less likely she is to be receiving AFDC. In addition the more time that has elapsed since the teenage birth the less likely the mother is to be on welfare. Teenage mothers are also far more likely to need assistance if they have not completed high school. The social and economic toll of teenage childbearing is high; billions of dollars are currently spent in AFDC payments to women whose 1st child was born during their teen years whereas it has been established that it would cost just about $112 million to provide modern birth control services for every sexually active teenager at risk of an unintended pregnancy who is not currently receiving them.