3 ms·

This article is mostly good but it distorts the issue of teen pregnancy. According to the government, teen pregnancy in the USA peaked in 1958, which was the pe

This article is mostly good but it distorts the issue of teen pregnancy. According to the government, teen pregnancy in the USA peaked in 1958, which was the peak year of the Baby Boom. Teen pregnancy has been in decline since 1958 (there was a brief surge around 1990, and then the downward trend renewed). Please see the first chart in this National Vital Statistics Report from the Centers Of Disease Control: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr49/nvsr49_10.pdf http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr49/nvsr49_10.pdf It's not very surprising that teen pregnancy has declined since it has been declining for most of the last 60 years. Of course, there is the separate issue of unmarried teens getting pregnant. The unmarried rate has risen from 12% to 79%, as the chart in the CDC report makes clear. Although even this trend seems to be now slowing, which is an interesting thing the article could have focused on, but didn't. ETA: Also, the USA is not homogeneous, and the report mentions this: "Birth rates for teenagers vary substantially by State. In 1999, the most recent year for which State-specific birth rates are available, the rates for ages 15–19 years ranged from 24.0 for New Hampshire to 72.5 in Mississippi."

br3w5 11y ago
It would be interesting to see how that stacked up against marriage rates overall
throwxreturnx 11y ago
Teen pregnancy in 1958 does not even come close to measuring the same thing that "teen pregnancy" does today. Today, almost all teen pregnancies are unwanted -- which was emphatically not the case in 1958. I'm not sure that delayed childbirth is really such a good thing for society. If you delay too long, you increase the risk of complications and birth defects, hence the US's increasing infant mortality rate. But more importantly, it weakens families by not having as many generations around for as long. My grandmother was 45 when my older brother was born. Now, our parents will be over 60 at their grandchild's birth. Our great-grandparents were around until our teenage years, but our children won't have the same privilege, because our grandparents are all dead.
- xivzgrev 11y ago
  On the other hand, you could say your grandpa is John Tyler and was born a mere 14 years after the declaration of independence. http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=29842 http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=29842
- a-saleh 11y ago
  I think this will self correct within a generation, on some more or less optimal value. Because I think this is not primarily about grandparents, it is about female fertility on one hand and fear of "can I provide"/"I don't want such obligation yet". I.e: my aunt had her first born when she was over 40, and knows this will be her last one. I know several of my older peers that had their fistborn roughly at 30, and they attempted the second one already within two years. I had my first daughter at 26. (Similar to my parents and parents of my wife first-borns were a kind of a happy accident :) And I can understand these trade offs. Heck, sometimes even I have an argument with my wife how much easier would some things have been if we have been slightly more careful for one or two more years :-) But I understand the sentiment about grand-parents :)

br3w5 11y ago

It would be interesting to see how that stacked up against marriage rates overall

throwxreturnx 11y ago

Teen pregnancy in 1958 does not even come close to measuring the same thing that "teen pregnancy" does today. Today, almost all teen pregnancies are unwanted -- which was emphatically not the case in 1958. I'm not sure that delayed childbirth is really such a good thing for society. If you delay too long, you increase the risk of complications and birth defects, hence the US's increasing infant mortality rate. But more importantly, it weakens families by not having as many generations around for as long. My grandmother was 45 when my older brother was born. Now, our parents will be over 60 at their grandchild's birth. Our great-grandparents were around until our teenage years, but our children won't have the same privilege, because our grandparents are all dead.

xivzgrev 11y ago
On the other hand, you could say your grandpa is John Tyler and was born a mere 14 years after the declaration of independence. http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=29842 http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=29842
a-saleh 11y ago
I think this will self correct within a generation, on some more or less optimal value. Because I think this is not primarily about grandparents, it is about female fertility on one hand and fear of "can I provide"/"I don't want such obligation yet". I.e: my aunt had her first born when she was over 40, and knows this will be her last one. I know several of my older peers that had their fistborn roughly at 30, and they attempted the second one already within two years. I had my first daughter at 26. (Similar to my parents and parents of my wife first-borns were a kind of a happy accident :) And I can understand these trade offs. Heck, sometimes even I have an argument with my wife how much easier would some things have been if we have been slightly more careful for one or two more years :-) But I understand the sentiment about grand-parents :)