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Adolescent Pregnancy in the United States

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Abstract

In the United States, adolescent pregnancy is largely conceptualized as stemming from sexual activity, which results in intentional or unintentional childbearing among teenagers between the ages of 12–19 years. The sexual development of adolescents and concurrent concerns over teenage pregnancy and reproductive health are inextricably linked within US culture. There are a host of factors—historical, developmental, environmental, religious, moral, social, cultural, economic, and political—which influence the degree to which adolescent pregnancy is experienced and socially accepted within the diverse cultural landscape of the USA. Whether related or unrelated to the wave of political attention, overall adolescent pregnancy rates have actually declined substantially in the USA over time, from 61.8 pregnancies per 1,000 girls age 15–19 during the late 1960s to 40.5 pregnancies per 1,000 by 2005. In contemporary US culture, these prevailing epidemiological and cultural norms have implicitly created a perceived social “picture” of adolescent pregnancy. In this chapter, we paint this picture not as prescriptive, but as a composite of the demographic, social, and cultural influences, which are commonly attributed to adolescent pregnancy in the United States. An adolescent parent in the United States is likely to be Black or of Hispanic/Latino origin, which also correlates with a likelihood of living in a low-income household or community where there is a greater concentration of teen parents. She or he is likely to be less educated and from a family in a low socioeconomic class, which irrespective of race, decreases access to preventative resources, healthcare, contraception, or abortion. As we will discuss in depth in this chapter, adolescent pregnancy rates and experiences vary greatly across geographic regions, cultural subgroups, and socioeconomic strata in the USA. The presence of diverse viewpoints and experiences related to adolescent pregnancy in the USA has multi-systemic implications for individuals, families, and communities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1000 Floyd Avenue, P.O. Box 842027, Richmond, VA, 23227, USA

    Sarah Kye Price, Dalia El-Khoury & Sundonia Wonnum

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  1. Sarah Kye Price
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  2. Dalia El-Khoury
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  3. Sundonia Wonnum
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Correspondence to Sarah Kye Price .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oklahoma, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

    Andrew L. Cherry

  2. University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA

    Mary E. Dillon

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Price, S.K., El-Khoury, D., Wonnum, S. (2014). Adolescent Pregnancy in the United States. In: Cherry, A., Dillon, M. (eds) International Handbook of Adolescent Pregnancy. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-8026-7_38

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-8026-7_38

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