Teenage childbearing. An adaptive strategy for the socioeconomically disadvantaged or a strategy for adapting to socioeconomic disadvantage?
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relation between childbearing and educational and vocational achievements of American females high school students.


METHODS
Articles published in English during the past decade about the educational, vocational, and socioeconomic sequelae of childbearing among female high school students.


METHODS
Articles that did not contain data about the relation between adolescent childbearing and educational and vocational achievement were excluded.


RESULTS
Most females who begin childbearing during adolescence obtain less schooling and poorer-paying jobs than do females who postpone childbearing. The reasons for this are elusive. Differences in the family and cultural backgrounds of early (high school-age) and later (18 years and older) childbearers explain some but not all of the association between early childbearing and educational and vocational underachievement. The effect of childbearing preferences on the educational and vocational achievements of teenagers has not been studied adequately. Lack of concrete information could result in underestimation of the effect of early childbearing on the socioeconomic well-being of young Americans, and create the impression that adolescent pregnancy is an adaptive response to urban poverty.


CONCLUSIONS
As much as the long-term socioeconomic sequelae of adolescent childbearing reflect factors that influence the judgments young people make about the costs and benefits of contraception and parenthood, adolescent childbearing is a means of adapting to urban poverty. Thus postponing adolescent conceptions and parenthood may have a less important effect on the socioeconomic well-being of young Americans than expected.
Stevens-Simon
C
C
Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Health Science Center, Denver, USA.
Lowy
R
R
D000293:Adolescent; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016487:Parenting; D011247:Pregnancy; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence; D012574:Schools; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students; D014481:United States
D003271:Contraceptive Agents, Female