Page "Teenage pregnancy" Paragraph 19

Young motherhood in an industrialized country can affect employment and social class.

Less than one third of teenage mothers receive any form of child support, vastly increasing the likelihood of turning to the government for assistance.

The correlation between earlier childbearing and failure to complete high school reduces career opportunities for many young women.

One study found that, in 1988, 60 % of teenage mothers were impoverished at the time of giving birth.

Additional research found that nearly 50 % of all adolescent mothers sought social assistance within the first five years of their child's life.

A study of 100 teenaged mothers in the United Kingdom found that only 11 % received a salary, while the remaining 89 % were unemployed.

Most British teenage mothers live in poverty, with nearly half in the bottom fifth of the income distribution.

Teenage women who are pregnant or mothers are seven times more likely to commit suicide than other teenagers.

Professor John Ermisch at the institute of social and economic research at Essex University and Dr Roger Ingham, director of the centre of sexual health at Southampton University – found that comparing teenage mothers with other girls with similarly deprived social-economic profiles, bad school experiences and low educational aspirations, the difference in their respective life chances was negligible.