Teenage Poverty Essay

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Teenage poverty is recently a growing trend in America. More and more children are living in poverty for many different reasons, for example teenagers who get pregnant are more likely to live in poverty than those who do not. One out of every four American youth is living under the poverty line. Children in high poverty communities face many problems. With their parents in poor communities they are more likely to struggle to meet basic needs than families with similar incomes living in richer areas. Parental stress can promote unhealthy ways for children, and the effect of living in high poverty communities is obvious in educational ways too. Teenage pregnancy is one of the leading causes of teen poverty. If it weren’t for teenagers getting pregnant too young, without jobs, they wouldn’t be living in poverty. Having a baby costs a ton of money, so with that pressure being brought upon a young woman or a young man at such a surprise, these people do not have time to save up the money for this event. Because the percent of teenagers marrying the person they have a baby with is slim, the amount of money paid for child support is unbearable. Children who grow up in a family that has a low economic status leaves an imprint on their life to live that way, especially when it involves not growing up with a father figure. The Institute for Research on Poverty reported that poverty was highest among families headed by single woman, 26.5% against 5.3% among married couples. This shows that teenage pregnancy may be one of the major causes of poverty. Poor girls who have babies when they are teenagers, are more likely to be economically unsuccessful in the long term than their friends who wait to have children. Teen mothers are less likely to get the education to qualify for a well paying job, so they are stuck working very minimal hours at places like fast food restaurants.

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