Thursday, June 12, 2014

The cost of teen pregnancy: Nearly a quarter of Hispanic women will become a mother before their 20th birthday.

6/12/2014
valleycentral


Nearly a quarter of Hispanic women will become a mother before their 20th birthday.
 
The Rio Grande Valley has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country, and it's making an impact in our wallets and inside our communities.
 
Teen child bearing costs Texas taxpayers more than billion dollars every year but it's not just about the financial cost, teen pregnancy also brings many challenges in life to teen mothers and their babies.
 
Bernie Vega found out she was pregnant with her daughter Katalina in the fall of her senior year at Edinburg North High School.
 
Becoming a mom in her teens was never something Bernie thought would happen to her.
 
"I was shocked. I didn't know I could be pregnant. I just thought I never could have kids. I don't know why. I just thought I was invincible,” Bernie said.
 
Bernie had big dreams, but her plans for the future had to change.
 
"I was planning on going to Texas A&M and doing the whole marching band thing and the college thing where you go to school, work, hang out, and have study groups. But when I found out I was pregnant I kind of felt sad because I was like, I'm not going to be able to go to veterinarian school,” Bernie said.
 
She is now living at home while studying education at UTPA.
 
A kid herself, Bernie quickly learned what it meant to be a parent.
 
"I didn't have a job at the time so I had to get a job," Bernie said.
 
But still in high school, Bernie had to settle for a low paying job at Jason's Deli.
 
Unable to afford children, teen moms have to rely on family and tax-payer funded programs.
 
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2010 teen childbearing cost U.S. taxpayers $9.4 billion and more than $1.1 billion in Texas alone.
 
Those costs include welfare assistance, public health and lost tax revenue.
 
Between 1991 and 2010 there have been more than a million teen births in Texas, costing taxpayers a total of $24.3 billion over the same period.
 
UTPA sociology professor Dr. Guang-zhen Wang has studied women's health across the world and says teen pregnancy is not just about the money. It doesn't just impact the life of the teen mom.
 
"It’s not just the financial cost to tax payers but also the opportunity cost, and financial cost, and mental cost and physiological cost to teen mothers," Wang said.
 
That cost would be much higher if it weren't for the 43 percent decline in Texas teen births over the past two decades.
 
In spite of the decline, Texas still has the 3rd highest teen pregnancy rate in the country.
 
New Mexico had the highest followed by Mississippi and then Texas which was tied with Arkansas.
 
Texas Department of State Health Services figures show there were 16.5 births for every 1000 girls from 13-17 years old in 2012.
 
In the Rio Grande Valley every county had higher rates than the state average some nearly double.
 
In 2012, per 1000 girls from ages 13-17 Cameron County had 25 births, Hidalgo County 24.6 births, Starr County 30.2 births, Willacy County 30.3 births and Zapata County 54.8 births.
 
The Rio Grande Valley is mostly Hispanic and Hispanics have the highest birth rate than any other race with 46.3 births for every 1000 girls 15-19. (CDC)
 
Hispanics have seen a more dramatic decline in teen pregnancy rates than any other race.
 
Since 2008, the teen pregnancy rate among Hispanic women has dropped 22 percent.
 
While teen pregnancy rates are declining more teens admit they are sexually active.
 
A recent survey shows just over half of Texas high school students report they have had sex.
 
"Teens are having more sex, but they are using more contraceptives to prevent births and keep themselves healthy,” McAllen Planned Parenthood CEO Patricio Gonzalez said.
 
Fortunately, 80 percent of teens who said they have had sex said they used contraceptives.
 
Gonzalez credits the increase in contraceptives to better access to birth control and sex education.
 
"Once they have good accurate information teens tend to make responsible choices,” Gonzalez said.
 
Bernie says she wishes she had received more reliable information on sex.
"I didn't know it’s not shameful to go buy a box of condoms,” Bernie said. “I didn't know people wouldn't star you down because you are trying to do the right thing."
 
While educating teens about sex will help limit teen pregnancies, completing education is one of the biggest hurdles an unplanned baby brings its mother.
 
"They are more likely to drop out from school when they don't finish their high or middle school,” Wang said. “What kind of skills do they have? What kind of financial foundation do they have to support their children? How much knowledge do they have to educate their children?"
 
Teen moms and their children are more likely to live in poverty and have poor health.
 
"Teen mothers are more likely to become obese later in their life,” Wang said.
 
So when do you start talking about sex?
 
"The earlier the better to start sex education," Wang said.
 
Bernie agrees.
 
“I would always tell my mom I’m not having sex. I feel like if I had talked to her more I would have gone into this having known more than what I knew before,” Bernie said.
 
"When the child starts to inquire or ask questions, I believe parents should start answering those questions using the best information they can get or their experience, but I believe parents need to start early on because young kids are being exposed to that at a very young age," Gonzalez said.
 
If parents don't answer their kids questions most have internet access but you might not like the information they find.
 
If teens aren't educated and end up with an unplanned pregnancy about a quarter of them will end their pregnancy with abortion.
 
Gonzalez says lowering unplanned pregnancies is key to lowering abortion rates.
 
"The best way to end abortions is to have people have access to contraceptives to education and information and that goes for teens,” Gonzalez said.
 
While Bernie loves her daughter very much, her advice for teens is wait to start a family.
 
"All these young kids are missing out on a lot of experiences. Just wait a little bit, have fun first. You don't want to get tied down too quickly,” Bernie said.
 
As parents there is a lot you can do to educate your children on sex.
 
For more information on the cost of teen pregnancy visit www.thenationalcampaign.org
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