Social Construction Of Teenage Pregnancy

Social Construction of Teenage Pregnancy in the United States: Race, Class and Gender In the United States, an estimated forty five percent of all female teenagers have premarital sex. As a result, about forty percent of all female adolescents become pregnant at least once before age twenty; and about four-fifths of these pregnancies are unintended. Twenty percent of these female adolescents bear a child, and about half of them are unmarried (Lawson and Rhode, 2). In a society that associates age appropriate sexual behavior and marital status with the welfare of the family and community, this is a very alarming statistic to many. Throughout the past several decades American society has developed very strong, and many times mythical opinions
This statement is one that society has failed to truly grasp, and one that has lead to the social construction and belief that teenage pregnancy causes poverty. The idea that teenage poverty is an automatic sentence to poverty, and a contributing factor to poverty is one that is supported in the media, literature, and by society as a whole. In an article written by a social scientist named Lloyd Eby, it is expressed that “Teenage mothers and their children experience increased levels of depression, stress, and aggression; a decrease in some indicators for physical health; higher incidence of needing the services of mental health professionals, and other emotional and behavioral problems. All these effects are linked with lifetime poverty, poor achievement, susceptibility to suicide, likelihood of committing crimes and being arrested, and other pathologies” (Eby and Donovan, 44). Another author states that “Teenage pregnancy—the entry into parenthood of individuals who barely are beyond childhood themselves—is one of the most serious and complex problems facing the nation today…the birth of a child can usher in a dismal future of unemployment, poverty, family breakdown, emotional stress, dependency on public agencies, and health problems of mother and child” (Luker, 73). However, these indicators and symptoms of teenage pregnancy are ones that are also seen within impoverished communities that do not contain teenage mothers. They are symptoms that plague both communities containing poor teenage mothers and poor communities without teenage mothers, and cannot be pin pointed simply to the latter. Therefore, it can be seen that the concept above, which states that teenage mothers cause poverty should be viewed in a different way, as poverty is the true cause of teenage