Poverty and teenage pregnancy.

Current priorities for adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Australia

“…Thus, prevalence data (based on screening of population samples) are essential for estimating the true burden of disease. The few prevalence surveys undertaken in Australian adolescents (albeit limited to small samples) have reported rates of CT infection of up to 28%, 13 , 14 which is similar to rates reported in the US literature. Aboriginal teenagers represent a particularly high‐risk group for CT and gonococcal infections 12 , 15 …”

Adolescent Pregnancy: Psychopathology Missed

“…Social isolation, relationship breakdown with the father of the infant, homelessness and domestic violence provide a poor model from which the teenager can construct positive mothercrafting strategies. Evidence would suggest that these life experiences, if not resolved, could impact on the relationship with the newborn infant, and lead to an ongoing cycle of deprivation [2,4].…”

“…

Teenage pregnancy usually results from an unstable relationship, is often unplanned and results in the adolescent becoming a parent before becoming an adult [1]. Social disadvantage and dependency on government benefits mean that many are required to survive on or below the poverty line [2]. In parti-cular, it is the younger group of adolescent mothers who experience problems.

…”

Deviant (M)others: The Construction of Teenage Motherhood in Contemporary Discourse

“…Consequently, in marked contrast with the joyful event that normally characterises childbirth and which is the experience of many young mothers (Lamanna, 1999), teenage motherhood is now invariably positioned as a social or public health problem throughout the scientific literature (Holt and Johnson, 1991;Hoffman et al, 1993;Maynard, 1997;Corcoran et al, 2000;Dickson et al, 2000;Fergusson and Woodward, 2000;Jaffee et al, 2001;Scally, 2002). This view is based on studies which show that teenage motherhood can result in an increased risk of adverse obstetric outcomes (Fraser et al, 1995;Botting et al, 1998), higher rates of poverty and/or curtailment of schooling (Card and Wise, 1978;Williams et al, 1987;Grogger and Bronars, 1993;Hoffman et al, 1993;Howard, 1999), lower rates of workforce participation (Grogger and Bronars, 1993), increased welfare recipience (Grogger and Bronars, 1993), and a variety of poor outcomes for offspring (Peckham, 1993;Grogger, 1997;Moore et al, 1997;Coley and Chase-Landale, 1998;Fergusson and Woodward, 1999;Jaffee et al, 2001). With few exceptions (Campbell, 2001;Turia, 2004;YWCA, 2004), this negativity is consolidated through the media in the UK (Slater, 1999;Allison and Hall, 2001) and NZ (Samson, 2000;Schnauer, 2000;Newman, 2001) and in policy documents and reports both in NZ (Ministry of Health, 1998;Department of Corrections, 2001;…”