Title: Teenage pregnancy in industrialized countries.

POPLINE Document Number: 048867

Author(s):

Jones E
Forrest JD
Goldman N
Henshaw S
Lincoln R
Rosoff JI
Westoff CF
Wulf D

Source citation:

New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Press, 1986. xiv, 310 p.

Abstract:

This book, sponsored by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, compares data on teenage reproductive behavior in the US and 35 other developed countries, and then examines in detail 5 countries similar culturally to the US-Canada, England and Wales, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden. The experience of these other countries not only challenges conventional assumptions about the factors that lead to the unusually high rates of abortion and childbearing among US teenagers but also suggests policies that might reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy in the US. Results show that 1) differences in sexual activity do not explain the pregnancy-rate differentials, 2) the birth and abortion rates of white US adolescents are lower than those of US black teenagers but are still much higher than overall rates in other countries, and 3) the availability of welfare and other forms of support for young mothers does not account for the high teenage pregnancy rates in the US. The primary reason for differences in pregnancy rates appears to be that teenagers in the other countries studied are much more likely than their US counterparts to use contraceptives, particularly the pill. In other countries, contraceptives are made available at low cost through national health or social security systems, and knowledge about sex and contraception is made available through sex education in the schools or through the media. The policy recomendations proposed are based on programs such as these; by following them, the US could greatly reduce unintended pregnancy among its own adolescents.

Keywords:

Developed Countries
United States
North America
Adolescent Pregnancy
Pregnancy
Reproductive Behavior
Adolescents
Canada
England
Wales
France
Netherlands
Sweden
Premarital Sex Behavior
Contraceptive Availability
Marketing
Program Activities
Health Services Administration
Delivery of Health Care
Americas
Fertility
Population Dynamics
Demographic Factors
Population
Reproduction
Youth
Age Factors
Population Characteristics
North America, Northern
United Kingdom
Europe, Western
Europe
Europe, Northern
Sex Behavior
Behavior
Contraception
Family Planning
Economic Factors
Programs
Organization and Administration
Management
Health