What are the Causes of Teenage Pregnancy?

Teenage pregnancy is one of the most common problems that are growing worldwide. This condition is most prevalent in developed countries like US, UK and others. However, the developing and under-developed countries are not left behind though the number of teenage pregnancies in developed countries are much higher as compared to that of the developing and under developed countries. The term teenage pregnancy is being used because it refers to those who get pregnant before reaching legal adulthood i.e. those between the age group 13-17 years. It is a condition in which the teenagers become unintentionally pregnant. There are a number of factors responsible for teenage pregnancy.

However, a number of the causes are still debatable. In the developed countries, the main causes of teenage pregnancy is the result of inadequate sex education among the teenagers, alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, higher rates of poverty, lower education levels etc. Those responsible for teenage pregnancy in the developing and under developed countries are quite different from that of the causes given above. Financial constraints, domestic or sexual violence, child marriage, media exhibiting sex and pornography to sell their stuffs etc are some of the factors that cause unwanted pregnancy among teenagers.

Other than those stated above, following are some of the contributing factors or causes of teenage pregnancy:

1) Lack of Parental Guidance: Most people evade their children from talking about sex. In some cases, they provide false information regarding sex and discourage their children to participate in any informative discussion about sex. In some cases, teenage mothers are not well educated about sex before getting pregnant and thus this leads to lack of communication between the parents and the children.

2) Adolescent Sexual Behavior: Among the adolescents, peer pressure is a major factor that encourages the teenage boys and girls to indulge in sexual activities. Early dating, as early as 12 years of age, is another factor that contributes to teen pregnancy. According to a research, 29% of teens were pressurized to have sex, 33% of teens were sexually active and that they felt things moving fast sexually.

3) Inadequate Knowledge about Safe Sex: Most adolescents are unaware of safe sex. They probably have no access to the traditional methods of preventing pregnancy. And the main reason behind is that they are either too embarrassed or fear to seek information about it. It was found that more than 80% of teenage pregnancies are unintended.

4) Exploitation by Older Men: This is another major factor that contributes to pregnancy among the teenagers. Those girls who date older men are more likely to become pregnant before they attain womanhood. Rape, sexual exploitations etc. also takes place that leads to unwanted pregnancy among teenage girls.

5) Socio Economic Factors: Teenage girls who belong to the poor families are more likely to become pregnant. Researchers have found that even in the developed countries teenage pregnancy occurs most commonly among the deprived sections.

These were some of the factors which are responsible for teenage pregnancy. Today the primary concern is more about the teenage mothers who becomes pregnant outside marriage. If you take a look at the teenage pregnancy statistics then you will realize the growing numbers of teenage mother all over the world. These teenage mothers are mostly school drop outs. In many cases, the teenage girls are either too shy to ask their partners to use condoms or are not willing to say no to their partners despite not willing to indulge in such activities.

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