Teenage pregnancy is a worldwide problem. While this is true, Megan Comlossy states that there are more teenage pregnancies in the United States than in any other industrialized country (1). According to Poverty and the Government in America: A Historical Encyclopedia, teenage pregnancy is defined as women aging from 13-19 who give birth (1). Teen pregnancy can be caused by numerous factors. Some of these factors are one’s family background, cultural influence, and financial status. Another reason of teens getting pregnant can be stemmed from being uneducated about sex, and unaware of ways to help prevent pregnancy. Many people do not see why teenage pregnancy is considered a problem; however, there are many negative effects that result from it. While poverty and lack of education are two of the many causes of teen pregnancy, they are also some of the effects of it. Unfortunately, this issue is one that will never completely …show more content…
According to researchers, “socioeconomics and poverty at the individual, household, and neighborhood levels are consistently found to be connected with teenage pregnancy and sexual decision making” (Minnis et. al 1). Disparities, poverty, family background, and cultural influences, all play a part in teen pregnancy. In a ZIP code analysis, research done by Rich-Edwards finds, “the life struggles of many young women in America are not considerably changed by the fact that they are teenage mothers, which suggests that teen mothers are not a cause of poverty but more so a consequence of it” (Mirsa et. al 53). One could gather from his study that teen mothers are a product of their surroundings. As the national Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy states, “two-thirds of families started by teenage mothers are financially poor” (7). With two-thirds being a high percentage, this statistic alone makes it seem impossible for young mothers to ever be financially