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In 2015, over 200,000 babies were born to girls under the age of 20 (Center for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2017). Although the number of teenage births each year has declined over the past decade, and is continuing on a downward trend (CDC, 2017), there continues to be a significant number of mothers, children, and communities affected by teenage motherhood. The reason teenage motherhood is such a large problem is because its causes and its effects are deeply intertwined, and until all aspects of the issue are examined, a solution cannot be found.
The existence of teenage motherhood not simply a result of personal decisions made, but is also indicative of the existence of greater social issues, such as poverty and lack of education. Teenage motherhood is just the tip of the iceberg; it is what can be seen, but underneath there are underlying issues that contribute to its existence, and this must be recognized so that the right issues are tackled, rather than just their results. Rather than degrading teenage mothers, the focus must be on encouraging their education, on removing the stigma attached to them that often holds them captive, and on working with them in order to ensure the best possible outcome for mother, child, and community.
The Problem as it Exists in Society
Definitions
Teenagers are defined as individuals between the ages of 13 and 19. Within the context of teenage pregnancy and teenage motherhood, the most common age range to examine are individuals between 15 and 19. In addition, teenage pregnancy refers to all pregnancies to teenagers, the focus within this paper will be on teen motherhood, and the resulting effects that occur once the choice has been made to keep the child.
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Historical Context
Teenage motherhood is not a new phenomenon, although it is only in the recent past that it became a problem. Dating back to biblical times, teenagers were considered able to marry and bear children as soon as they were physically able to. Biblical scholars believe that Mary was most likely in her young teen years when she gave birth to Jesus—an age that to us seems incredibly young, but at the time was considered a normal age to be betrothed and begin a family. As society evolved and as the brains development was further studied, that is when teenage motherhood began to be negatively connoted, and thus began to negatively impact society.
Sociologist James M. Henslin (2017) states that the concept of adolescence “is a social invention” (p. 91) and that prior to said invention, one simply went from being a child to being a young adult. As such, teenage pregnancy only became an issue when society began to recognize that children between the ages of 13-18 are not truly adults—they are overgrown children who are still maturing, physically and emotionally. It is when this happened that society began to shift, and as the decades went on teenagers were considered less capable—intellectually and mentally— of being parents, and thus it became less socially acceptable to be a teen parent. This resulted in teenagers constantly being told that they were not capable of being parents, that it would ruin their life, and thus they began to think of teenage pregnancy and motherhood in that way as well—something that they would ultimately fail at. In this way, teenage motherhood went from being a social norm—something that was a typical part of life—to a social issue which no one is prepared for, and that alters the course of ones’ life and the lives of those around them.
Social Effects
Teenage motherhood most directly impacts the mother herself, limiting her education opportunities and career prospects. According to the CDC (2017) “only around 50% of teenage mothers receive a high school diploma” by the time they reach 22 years old, compared to 90% of teenage girls who do not give birth during high school. In the 21st century, regardless of intelligence level, a diploma or the equivalent is vital to being able to attain a career that can sustain one’s family, and so lack of even a basic diploma can be detrimental to teenage mothers who are attempting to provide for themselves and their child.
Moreover, the poverty rate for individuals over age 25 with no high school diploma was 24.5% in 2017, compared to 12.7% for those who graduated from high school, (Fontenot, Semega, & Kollar, 2018, p. 16). In addition, female drop outs face further problems because of the gender pay gap that still exists within the United States, causing them to have a harder time finding a job and supporting their families even when compared to males with a similar level of education. As a result, teenage girls who drop out due to motherhood face two large obstacles; limited job and career options compared to their peers who attained a higher level of education, and the added problem that they are likely to make less than their male counterparts who lack a diploma as well.
Children born to into households headed by teenage mothers are also significantly affected. Children often follow in their parent’s footsteps when it comes to lifestyle choices and educational attainment, and children born to teenage mothers are no different. The CDC (2011) found that for “girls born to teen parents are 33% more likely to become teen parents themselves,” (p.2) indicating that girls born to teenage mothers often make decisions that mirror their parent’s, whether intentionally or not. In many cases, people expect that the daughter of a teenage mother will become one herself, which can subconsciously push her to become exactly what people expect—a prime example of a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Additionally, children of both sexes born to teenage mothers are less likely to graduate from high school compared to children whose mothers were older than 25 at birth (Addo, Sassler, & Williams, 2016), which then puts them at greater risk of living in poverty. Living in poverty, in turn, positively correlates with higher teenage pregnancy rates (CDC, 2017) and as a result, the cycle of poverty and teenage motherhood continues. Once this series of events is set into motion, it can be hard to stop the cycle from continuing on to the next generation.
On a larger scale, an issue that remains in the United States in part because of teenage motherhood, is that of economic inequality that disproportionately affects minorities. Even as birth rates continue to decline across all races, the disparities remain, especially among black and Hispanic teens— in 2015, 16 out of 1000 white teenagers gave birth in the United States, compared to 34.9 and 31.8 out of 1000 for Hispanic and black non-Hispanic teens, respectively (CDC, 2017). Because teenage mothers are more likely to drop out of school, and thus are more likely to live in poverty compared to their peers (CDC, 2017) these disproportionate birth rates at least partially account for the heightened poverty rate among blacks and Hispanics—a rate more than double that of the rate for whites (Fontenot, et. al., 2018.)
Although this heightened rate of poverty is not solely a result of teenage motherhood, there is still a strong correlation between the two, where one stimulates the other. No matter how many laws and policies are put into place to ensure economic equality, social issues such as teenage motherhood often serve as the catalyst that traps people in an inter-generational cycle of poverty, one that cannot be prevented or stopped by laws alone. As this cycle continues, the economic divide worsens with each generation, making it increasingly difficult to solve.
Counteractive Responses
On a pragmatic level, the best way to eliminate the societal effects of teenage motherhood is to prevent it in the first place. Arguments have long been had over abstinence-only versus more comprehensive, well rounded sex education. While in theory abstinence may be the best way to prevent teenage pregnancy, motherhood, and the transfer of STDs—by simply eliminating the cause—it has proven to be counterproductive. States with the highest rate of teenage pregnancy and teenage births are frequently states in which either abstinence or abstinence-only education is mandated (Stanger-Hall & Hall, 2011), and true “sex education” is not necessarily required. If more comprehensive education is provided—giving teenagers option of abstinence, but also instructing both males and females on methods of contraception—many teenage pregnancies could be prevented in the first place.
Other than prevention, the best way to stunt the negative societal effects resulting from teenage motherhood is by removing the stigma that follows teenage mothers. Teenagers—and even adults— can be brutal to others, especially when someone strays from what is considered normal. This often results in hostile interactions with teen mothers, where the teen mother becomes very clear what others’ opinions of her are. On a larger scale, school systems are often stringent and unwilling to work with teen mothers, according to Vinson and Stevens (2014). Even though the civil rights law Title IX requires schools to provide the same educational opportunities to students regardless of pregnancy or parental status, Vinson et. al. (2014) argued that teachers and students alike still harbor a certain stigma when it comes to teen mothers, and as such they are often treated poorly.
As with laws preventing racial discrimination or discrimination based on sexuality, legal precedents can only go so far in preventing adverse treatment by ones’ peers, by teachers, and by school officials who are unwilling to meet teen mothers in the middle. Even in traditional high schools that are not designed specifically for teenage mothers, offering maternity leave, allowing mothers to complete school from home, or simply allowing them more absences throughout the semester (Tucker, 2012), can be instrumental in encouraging young teen moms to continue their education, rather than dropping out due to a lack of support. By providing them with this support, even if is minute, the number of teenage mothers dropping out can potentially be reduced, thereby decreasing the number of teen mothers living in poverty. This, in turn, can help to halt the cycle of teen motherhood, and stop it before it turns into a multi-generation issue.
Applying Conflict Theory
Conflict theorists believe society is composed of groups competing for scarce resources, which reflects a struggle to maintain a balance—or in many cases an imbalance—of power (Henslin, 2017). The various reactions social institutions have to teenage mothers—especially education and religious institutions—exhibit that struggle for power. Although laws such as Title IX and non-discrimination laws are meant to ensure that all individuals have equal opportunities, these social institutions still find ways to guarantee that power is maintained by those who hold it.
In the case of teenage motherhood, the unwillingness of schools to work with teenage mothers inadvertently pushes them to drop out of school, which increases their chances of either retaining their current social class or of joining a lower one. In reference to religious institutions, although the general acceptance of teen mothers has grown in the past 50 years, there is oftentimes still a sense of resentment displayed, which only succeeds in discouraging teenage mothers who are trying to do the best they can to care for themselves and their child.
In addition, the abstinence-only education that is pushed by many conservative state and federal governments only adds fuel to the fire, since states with the highest teen pregnancy rates also mainly teach abstinence-only education (Stanger-Hall et.al., 2011). Because that type of education if counterproductive, the actual impact of those governmental policies is that more teenagers become pregnant and consequently drop-out of school, once again nearly ensuring that their social class will not improve, and that those in the higher-class remain in power.
The Christian Response
Another important piece to addressing teenage motherhood is determining the Christian response. While the Christian response is partially entwined with the pragmatic response, there is also another moral component to consider. Reactions on either extreme end of the spectrum are counterproductive, and either actively push people away from Christianity, or pull them toward a false impression of what Christianity is. The legalistic response that was rampant in churches of the 20th century—treating it as a sin, one that the mother and child must suffer with—only succeeds in discouraging and disheartening that mother. The more secular response—a response that many Christians in Hollywood seem to have adopted—an ‘anything goes’ attitude, is also ineffective. Although it may make people more likely not to leave the church, it misrepresents what the bible truly says about what is right and what is wrong.
It is important to recognize that teenage pregnancy and motherhood are indicative of the brokenness that exists within our society. Rather than crucifying the girls caught in this cycle poverty, poor education, and teen motherhood, it is important to remember that although the God is a God of justice, he is also a God of love. The words of Psalm 139—which embody the amount of praise every Christian should have for God at the fact that he can create a human being from nothing—still applies to babies born out of wedlock and to babies born to teen mothers. The sin has already been committed, and so the focus from then on should be to show love, to show compassion, and to emulate the love that God has for his people, regardless of past transgressions, decisions, or circumstance of birth.
