At the individual level, nonmarital pregnancies to teens have a variety of consequences for teens and their children.

For the teen, pregnancy is associated with serious health and emotional problems, poverty, low education, and single parenthood.

Pregnant adolescents are at increased risk for complications including low birth weight, infant mortality,[1] preterm delivery,[2] urinary tract infections, pyelonephritis, preeclampsia,[1] and abortion.[3] Unmarried teens (but not married teens) who become mothers are at increased risk for depressive symptoms later in life.[4]

• Nonmarital teen births often begin and end in poverty for the adolescent mother and her child/children. A majority (83%) of teen pregnancies, regardless of the outcome (birth, abortion, miscarriage), occur in economically disadvantaged areas.[5] According to a 1998 report, nearly one-third of all teen mothers and one-half of unmarried teen mothers go on welfare within one year of giving birth.[6] Almost a third (28%) of teen mothers are poor in their 20s and 30s, and 7% remain poor throughout the rest of their lives.[7]

• In general, teen mothers have much lower levels of educational attainment than other women, which severely limit their career options and sharply increase their likelihood of economic dependency. Only 70% of teen mothers complete high school or earn a GED, and far fewer–1.5%–earn a college degree by the age of 30.[8]

• The risk that a female will become a single parent is particularly high under 20 years of age. 97% of all births to girls under 15 are nonmarital and 80% of births to 15- to 19-year-olds are nonmarital.[9]

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References:
1. Combs-orme T. Health effects of adolescent pregnancy: implications for social workers. Fam Soc. 1993;74:344-354.
2. da Silva AA, Simoes VM, Barbieri MA, et al. Young maternal age and preterm birth. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2003;17:332-329.
3. Elam-Evans LD, Strauss LT, Herndon, MS, et al. Abortion surveillance – US, 2000. MMWR Surveillance Summaries. 2003;52(SS12);1-32.
4. Kalil A, Kunz J. Teenage childbearing, marital status, and depressive symptoms in later life. Child Dev. 2002;73:1748-1760.
5. Passarel S. Adolescent Childbearing and Educational and Economic Attainment. 1995. Advocates for Youth. Available at: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/factsheet/fsadlchd.htm. Accessed May 6, 2004.
6. General Accounting Office. Teen Mothers: Selected Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Risks. June 1998.
7. Sex and America's Teenagers, New York: Allan Guttmacher Institute, 1994.
8. Maynard, R.A. (Ed.). (1996). Kids Having Kids: A Robin Hood Foundation Special Report On the Costs of Adolescent Childbearing. New York: Robin Hood Foundation. Available at: http://www.hi-ho.ne.jp/taku77/refer/teenmo.pdf. Accessed May 10, 2004.
9. Births: Final Data for 2002. 2003; 52(10) National Center for Health Statistics. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr52/nvsr52_10.pdf. Accessed April 19, 2004.