Feature: "Babies having babies" still headache for American parents

Source: Xinhua | 05-08-2009 15:43

LOS ANGELES, May 7 (Xinhua) -- "Babies having babies" is an old problem in the United States but still remains a headache for many American parents.

As the United States marked its National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy on Wednesday, figures showed that the national teen birth rate increased 5 percent between 2005 and 2007, and many states reported statistically significant increases in early childbearing.

The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world, which is twice as high as in Britain or Canada and eight times that of the Netherlands or Japan, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Three out of 10 teenage girls in the U.S. get pregnant at least once before age 20, that amounts to 745,000 teen pregnancies each year, according to statistics.

The statistics also showed that two-thirds of all teen pregnancies occur among 18 to 19-year-olds, yet almost half of them have never considered how a pregnancy would affect their lives. Parenthood becomes the leading reason why teen girls drop out of school. Less than half of teen mothers ever graduate from high school and fewer than 2 percent earn a college degree by age 30.

California State Assembly member Ted Lieu said that unplanned teen pregnancies have serious negative consequences and pledged that he would continue to fund and promote comprehensive, appropriate, and evidence-based programs designed to reduce unplanned pregnancies at state, local and community levels.