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One in Six Females Projected to Become a Teen Mother: Estimates as High as 1 in 4 in Nine States
An estimated 18 percent of females nationwide will become teen mothers, according to a new Child Trends research brief. The brief, Estimated Percentage of Females Who Will Become Teen Mothers: Differences Across States, also finds that states vary widely in the estimated percentage of females who will have a baby before the age of 20, ranging from 8% in New Hampshire to 30% in Mississippi.
Additional findings:
"Teen childbearing is of concern because of the well-documented negative consequences for both mother and child," said lead study author Kate Perper, M.P.P. "Our estimates indicate that 1 in 6 girls in the U.S. will become teenage mothers, showing we have a long way to go to reduce teenage childbearing."
- 25 percent or more of females were estimated to become teen mothers in 9 states, concentrated primarily in the South and Southwest. In contrast, in only three states - New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts - were less than 10 percent of females estimated to become teen mothers.
- State-level rankings on the likelihood of becoming a teen mother mirror traditional state rankings based on teen birth rates, but are not identical due to differences in the age-specific birth rates and the population distribution within each state.
"When people see teenage birth rate statistics, they may not recognize the magnitude of the issue of teen childbearing in the U.S.," said study co-author Jennifer Manlove, Ph.D. "However, seeing that 1 in 4 teen girls in your state will have a birth before age 20 should be a wake-up call about the importance of this issue."
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