The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has launched the 2013 State of World Population report focusing on adolescent pregnancy. Motherhood in Childhood: Facing the Challenge of Adolescent Pregnancy highlights the main challenges of adolescent pregnancy and the serious impacts on girls’ education, health and long-term employment opportunities. The report also shows what can be done to curb this trend and protect girls’ human rights and well-being.
Girls under 15 account for 2 million of the annual total of 7.3 million new adolescent mothers; if current trends continue, the number of births to girls under age 15 could rise to 3 million a year in 2030. While the report concludes that adolescent pregnancy is a much bigger challenge in the developing world, it is still an issue that needs to be addressed worldwide. In the United States, only about half of the girls who become pregnant as adolescents complete high school by age 22, compared to nine out of 10 girls who do not become pregnant. It also harms the economy as a whole, with nearly US$11 billion a year in costs to taxpayers in the United States alone.
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Learn more about The State of World Population 2013.