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Author: Congressional Budget Office
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Congressional Budget Office |
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Sources of Support for Adolescent Mothers Washington DC: CBO Publications Office, 1990 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: Congressional Budget Office Keyword(s): First Birth; Mothers, Adolescent; Teenagers; Welfare Concerns about the economic and social problems of teenage mothers and their children and about the budgetary effects of young parents' reliance on public assistance have made adolescent pregnancy and parenthood increasingly important public policy issues in recent years. This report examines the sources of income, both private and public, used by young mothers and their families. It also evaluates their overall economic well-being and outlines strategies that might be used to address their problems. Although the share of teenage women who give birth each year fell during the 1960s and 1970s and has been stable over the last decade, births to unmarried teenagers have become increasingly common. In 1988, two-thirds of the teenagers giving birth were single, compared with less than one-third in 1970. Because single teenage mothers face greater difficulties than do young married mothers, this trend has worsened the problems associated with adolescent motherhood. Many teenage mothers have severely limited economic resources to support themselves and their families. During their early years of motherhood, nearly half have incomes below the poverty line, and of those who are single and living with only their children, almost 90 percent are poor. Because they generally have few private resources, many adolescent mothers rely on assistance from the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. About half receive AFDC at some time within five years after first giving birth, but their time on the program is generally short, with half getting benefits for less than one year. |
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Bibliography Citation
Congressional Budget Office. Sources of Support for Adolescent Mothers. Washington DC: CBO Publications Office, 1990. |