3 ms·

Economic prospects aren't everything. Life is more than that, and many people place a high value on family. Lots of the trouble with "teen pregnancy" is really

by burfog 8y ago

Economic prospects aren't everything. Life is more than that, and many people place a high value on family. Lots of the trouble with "teen pregnancy" is really not about age. It's about not having a stable marriage with a decent breadwinner. Pregnancy in the mid-late teen years is biologically ideal. Dropping out of college or even high school isn't so bad. It makes perfect sense if you value children and think that family comes first. You have to start early if you want to have a big healthy family.

b_tterc_p 8y ago
I’ll wager the vast majority of teenage pregnancies don’t come from a stable marriage with a decent breadwinner. This reads to me as practically naive to make a worldly claim.
- jplayer01 8y ago
  Because there are different issues at play and you're only willing to look at the economic impact.
watwut 8y ago
And if that family does not work out the way old school romance books write about, then you are f-ed along with children. The father is f-ed too for that matter. Parental stress is game change for children who are more likely to become target of parental frustration. The divorce rates for young marriages are higher then those for people who marry older. High school drop outs with or without children do very badly in this economy. But when you have children while relying on unstable minimum wage income from irregular hours, then it is all triple harder. Lastly, teenage years are not biologically ideal. Teenagers have more pregnancy complications, including expensive ones and dangerous ones. As in, having child during your twenties is healthier for you and child. Both under 18 and over 35 are associated with more risks.
- burfog 8y ago
  The situation is normally happily-ever-after for people who choose to make it so. FWIW, I know a pair of couples who started dating in middle school and married as soon as legally possible, and they are happy decades later. It helps to have a strong sense of duty and responsibility in your culture. Not that the current economy is bad, because it isn't and many high school dropouts are getting jobs now, but I'm not seeing how that relates to the economic well-being of a full-time mother. The father could be a decade older, settled into a career as a petroleum engineer or stock trader. It's a given that a study of pregnancy age will fail to compensate for factors unrelated to age. The big and obvious one: on average, there is something different about the personality of a person who gets pregnant at that age. (and thus unhealthful choices, etc.) I do not accept any claims to have properly accounted for non-age factors. The ideal age is going to depend on your DNA (when do you reach full size where it counts?) but FWIW that is likely near age 16 for many people.

by burfog 8y ago

b_tterc_p 8y ago

I’ll wager the vast majority of teenage pregnancies don’t come from a stable marriage with a decent breadwinner. This reads to me as practically naive to make a worldly claim.

jplayer01 8y ago
Because there are different issues at play and you're only willing to look at the economic impact.

watwut 8y ago

And if that family does not work out the way old school romance books write about, then you are f-ed along with children. The father is f-ed too for that matter. Parental stress is game change for children who are more likely to become target of parental frustration. The divorce rates for young marriages are higher then those for people who marry older. High school drop outs with or without children do very badly in this economy. But when you have children while relying on unstable minimum wage income from irregular hours, then it is all triple harder. Lastly, teenage years are not biologically ideal. Teenagers have more pregnancy complications, including expensive ones and dangerous ones. As in, having child during your twenties is healthier for you and child. Both under 18 and over 35 are associated with more risks.

burfog 8y ago
The situation is normally happily-ever-after for people who choose to make it so. FWIW, I know a pair of couples who started dating in middle school and married as soon as legally possible, and they are happy decades later. It helps to have a strong sense of duty and responsibility in your culture. Not that the current economy is bad, because it isn't and many high school dropouts are getting jobs now, but I'm not seeing how that relates to the economic well-being of a full-time mother. The father could be a decade older, settled into a career as a petroleum engineer or stock trader. It's a given that a study of pregnancy age will fail to compensate for factors unrelated to age. The big and obvious one: on average, there is something different about the personality of a person who gets pregnant at that age. (and thus unhealthful choices, etc.) I do not accept any claims to have properly accounted for non-age factors. The ideal age is going to depend on your DNA (when do you reach full size where it counts?) but FWIW that is likely near age 16 for many people.