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December 6, 2007

Unmarried and teen births increase

editorial
Some disturbing news with equally disturbing implications for society is the just released Center for Disease Control  report that:
The teen birth rate in the United States rose in 2006 for the first time since 1991, and unmarried childbearing also rose significantly,

(snip)

The report shows that between 2005 and 2006, the birth rate for teenagers 15-19 years rose 3 percent, from 40.5 live births per 1,000 females aged 15-19 years in 2005 to 41.9 births per 1,000 in 2006. This follows a 14-year downward trend in which the teen birth rate fell by 34 percent from its all-time peak of 61.8 births per 1,000 in 1991.
Parallel to the increase in teen births
The study also shows unmarried childbearing reached a new record high in 2006. The total number of births to unmarried mothers rose nearly 8 percent to 1,641,700 in 2006. This represents a 20 percent increase from 2002, when the recent upswing in nonmarital births began. The biggest jump was among unmarried women aged 25-29, among whom there was a 10 percent increase between 2005 and 2006.

In addition, the nonmarital birth rate also rose sharply, from 47.5 births per 1,000 unmarried females in 2005 to 50.6 per 1,000 in 2006 -- a 7-percent 1-year increase and a 16 percent increase since 2002.The study also revealed that the percentage of all U.S. births to unmarried mothers increased to 38.5 percent, up from 36.9 percent in 2005.


But there was one tiny drop of good news in the report

The birth rate for the youngest teens aged 10-14 declined from 0.7 to 0.6 per 1,000, and the number of births to this age group fell 5 percent to 6,405.
Yes, children--and 10-14 years olds are truly children--are the parents of children.  Fifteen to 19 year olds, for the most part, are slightly older children who ate best should be baby sitting children, not parenting them.

Poverty, crime, family dysfunction, child abuse, educational problems and poor health are just some of the problems that are more predominant in families and communities with teen and/or unmarried mothers; these are problems that will reverberate throughout society at all levels for many years. 

Posted at 9:18 AM | Email | | | Share Share
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