Teen Pregnancy Prevention: A NBER Book Chapter.pdf

This chapter from the book Targeting Investments in Children explores teen pregnancy prevention as a strategy to combat poverty. It highlights key aspects, including:

- Prevalence: In 2004, approximately 72 out of every 1,000 girls aged 15–19 in the US became pregnant, with significant racial and ethnic disparities. Despite a decline since the 1990s peak, rates remain higher than in other industrialized nations.

- Research Findings:
- Abstinence education programs show little evidence of reducing teen pregnancies or sexual behavior.
- Contraceptive-focused sexual education may be effective in reducing risky sexual behavior among targeted youth.
- Multicomponent interventions like the Carrera program demonstrate promise but are expensive and challenging to replicate.

- Effectiveness of Prevention Interventions: The chapter reviews various studies, concluding that while some programs show potential, there's a lack of conclusive evidence about their overall effectiveness in preventing teen pregnancies.

- Link to Poverty: Reducing teen childbearing might not directly lead to significant poverty reductions. Teen mothers often experience negative economic and social outcomes, but the impact of lower teen pregnancy rates on poverty is unclear.

- Key Elements: The effectiveness of teen pregnancy prevention as an antipoverty strategy hinges on two factors: the success of interventions in preventing pregnancies and births, and the ability of reduced teen childbearing to drive down poverty rates.