Melissa Acosta
ECON 2305
8:30 AM TTH
“ Why is the Teen Birth Rate in the United States So High and Why does
it Matter?”
Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 26, Number 2—Spring 2012—Pages 141-166
Melissa S. Kearney and Phillip B. Levine
Although the teenage pregnancy rate in the US has fallen over the years, the
number is still very alarming. The US rate completely surpasses the teen pregnancy
rates of the other developed countries in the world. The article tries to understand
why the rate of teenage pregnancy is so high in the United States as a whole, and in
some U.S. states in particular. They concluded that growing up in a low-income
household paves the way for teen pregnancy. They believe that young girls with the
low economic trajectory make a decision to “drop–out” of the economic mainstream.
They chose motherhood at a very young age instead of working to better their
economic situation with pursing a better future with higher education because they
feel that they will not make it out or will not see much advancement. They suggest
that the teen pregnancy issue will require the society as a whole to acknowledge the
social problem present, which is the lack of economic opportunity that those at the
bottom of the economic ladder experience.
