Facts:
Health Risks:
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Teen pregnancy leaves the women at higher risks for high blood pressure and preeclampsia ( a dangerous medical condition that combines high blood pressure with excess protein in the urine, swelling of a mother's hands and face, and organ damage.)
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Pregnant teens may also be at a higher risk for postpartum depression.
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If sexually active while pregnant teens are at a higher risk of getting an STD which can seriously damage the growing infante and uterus.
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Teens are at a higher risk of giving birth to low birth weight babies.
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Teens are also at a higher risk of giving premature births.
Education:
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Less than 2% of teen moms earn a college degree by age 30.
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Parenthood is the leading reason that teen girls drop out of school. More than 50% of teen mothers never graduate from high school.
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The children of teenage mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and to dropout of high school, have more health problems, be incarcerated at some time during adolescence, give birth as a teenager, and face unemployment as a young adult.
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Pregnancy and birth are significant contributors to high school dropout rates among girls. Only about 50% of teen mothers receive a high school diploma by 22 years of age, whereas approximately 90% of women who do not give birth during adolescence graduate from high school.
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Less than 2% of teen moms earn a college degree by age 30.
PHOTO ESSAY
Government:
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States in the south have a predominantly higher birth rate than in the north.
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Many southern states lack sex education at all
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Many southern states also use abstinence teaching of sex ed.
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3 in 10 teen American girls will get pregnant at least once before age 20. That’s nearly 750,000 teen pregnancies every year.
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In 2010, teen pregnancy and childbirth accounted for at least $9.4 billion in costs to U.S. taxpayers for increased health care and foster care, increased incarceration rates among children of teen parents, and lost tax revenue because of lower educational attainment and income among teen mothers.
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About 25% of teen moms have a 2nd child within 24 months of their first baby.