Thursday, September 11, 2008

Not just an issue for teens

Unplanned pregnancy outside of marriage is not just a teen issue.

In fact, "more than half (54%) of unmarried women who have an unplanned pregnancy are in their 20s" not their teens. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy has a brief overview called "Briefly: Unplanned Pregnancy Among 20-Somethings: The Full Story".

This brief says that:
  • "In 2001, more than 2 million unmarried women had an unplanned pregnancy. This includes: 635,000 unmarried teens; 764,000 unmarried women in their early 20s (age 20-24); 367,000 unmarried women age 25-29; and 311,000 unmarried women over age 29 who had an unplanned pregnancy."
  • "Over two-thirds of unmarried women having an unplanned pregnancy are not cohabiting. Only one-third of unmarried women who had an unplanned pregnancy were living with their partner when they got pregnant."
  • "Among women having an unplanned pregnancy, cohabiting women and single, non-cohabiting women are more than twice as likely to have an abortion when compared to married women with an unplanned pregnancy."
  • "Close to half of all unplanned pregnancies among women who were cohabiting ended in abortion compared to less than one in five unplanned pregnancies among married women."
  • "About one-third of cohabiting women who reported having an unplanned pregnancy resulting in a birth ended that relationship within two years after the child's birth. Among married women, only 7% ended the relationship within two years after the unplanned child's birth."
  • "Approximately two-thirds of unmarried women ages 20-29 who experienced an unplanned pregnancy were above the federal poverty level, and more than one-third had an income at or above 200% of the federal poverty level."
  • "Most unmarried women who experienced an unplanned pregnancy have either graduated from high school or its equivalent, and four in ten have attended some college or more."
  • "Close to half of all unmarried women who experienced an unplanned pregnancy are white, one in five are Hispanic, and about one-third are black."

No comments: