Essay Example on Teenage Moms: The Socio-Economic Impact of Teen Pregnancy

Introduction

My dissertation topic is "the experiences of teenage mothers about the socio-economic aspects of teen pregnancy in a low-income community." Teenage pregnancy continues to be one of the leading problems bedeviling the world. The World Health Organization's (2018) recent key facts depict the need to address this problem urgently. Annually, about 21 million adolescent girls between the age of 15 and 19 years, become teenage mothers, especially in developing countries. It is also worrying that about 2 million children under the age of fifteen years become pregnant (WHO, 2018).

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Apart from developing countries, the problem of adolescent pregnancy is also found in middle-income and high-income countries and, primarily, confined to marginalized communities. In such societies, the high prevalence of teenage motherhood is attributed to unemployment, low educational attainment, and poverty (UNFPA, 2015). Teenage pregnancy and motherhood have adverse social and economic consequences on the affected individuals, families, and communities. One of these negative social consequences is stigmatization and rejection of unmarried young girls by their parents and friends (Ramakuela, Lebese, Maputle, & Mulaudzi, 2016). Adolescent mothers have also been reported to be victims of domestic violence and abuse in their partnership or marriage (Mollborn, 2017).

There is also an increased likelihood that adolescent mothers are likely to drop out of school, hence have low educational attainment and achievement (Lansford, Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 2016). consequently, teenage mothers have limited knowledge, skills, and employment opportunities. Moreover, their children have high mortality rates, higher risk of poverty, low educational achievement, and higher rates of unemployment later in life (Whitaker et al., 2016). In a related study, Kumar et al. (2018) established that teenage mothers ended their education once they gave birth to their children because of the need to seek for employment opportunities to support themselves and their young children. In such cases, poverty drives children out of school as their parents cannot offer the needed financial support (Kumar et al., 2018).

The absence of social support from families is another detrimental social outcome of teenage motherhood, especially for young mothers residing in rural communities. Instead of receiving family support, adolescent mothers are alienated and discriminated for their early pregnancies (Kumar et al., 2018). Even though past research studies have examined the social and economic consequences of teenage pregnancy/motherhood, there is a knowledge gap regarding its impact on low-income communities. Consequently, the proposed study is aimed at addressing this research gap.

The proposed study is aimed at exploring the social and economic experiences of teenage pregnancy in low-income communities. These experiences will be gathered from the participants through phenomenological research design because it allows respondents to tell their stories or lived experiences regarding the phenomenon of interest to the study (Jordan, 2019). Consequently, data collection will involve the use of in-depth interviews comprised of open-ended questions. Through these data collection techniques, the respondents have an opportunity to provide unlimited responses to issues related to socioeconomic aspects of the issues (Krugu, Mevissen, Prinsen, & Ruiter, 2016).

Impact of the Dissertation on Social Change

The proposed study will contribute to positive social change- improved human and social conditions and a better society- in many ways. First, the findings of this study will help the researcher to identify the unique social and economic challenges experienced by adolescent mothers in low-income communities. The socioeconomic problems will inform stakeholder education. That is, following the findings of the study, community members, parents, and civic leaders will be educated on the adverse impact of teenage pregnancy. When all stakeholders are aware of the evidence-based adverse consequences of adolescent motherhood, they will be willing to discuss strategies meant for prevention of future cases of teenage pregnancy.

There is also an increased likelihood that when adolescents are informed of the socio-economic challenges of pregnancy and motherhood at a young age, they will be willing to adopt measures aimed at preventing themselves from being victims. The proposed dissertation will also inform policies aimed at reducing teenage pregnancy. For instance, findings will be used to seek increased access to reproductive healthcare services and contraceptives. Because of this, the results of this study will be shared with local government policymakers to enable them to understand the gravity of the problem and the need to develop effective policy interventions to address the menace.

It is also essential for healthcare providers to provide adolescent-friendly and culturally appropriate reproductive health care services and increase access to all teenagers in the community. Consequently, the results of this study will be shared with adolescent pregnancy prevention programs or organizations that serve young girls at risk of pregnancy in low-income communities. Lastly, the findings of this study will be shared with community health workers, especially those involved in preventing repeated childbearing among teenagers (Maravilla, Betts, Abajobir, Couto E Cruz, & Alati, 2016). Community health workers play a leading role in the prevention of repeated pregnancies. For instance, one of the recent studies has shown that involving them in prevention programs leads to a 30% reduction in repeated teenage births (Maravilla et al., 2016).

References

Armstrong, G. M., Kotler, P., Harker, M. J., & Brennan, R. (2018). Marketing: An introduction. London, UK: Pearson UK.

Jordan, M. (2019). A Methodological Consideration and Methodological Design Suitable to Examine Teenage Pregnancy. In Socio-Cultural Influences on Teenage Pregnancy and Contemporary Prevention Measures (pp. 33-42). IGI Global.

Krugu, J. K., Mevissen, F. E. F., Prinsen, A., & Ruiter, R. A. C. (2016). Who's that girl? A qualitative analysis of adolescent girls' views on factors associated with teenage pregnancies in Bolgatanga, Ghana. Reproductive Health, 13(39), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-016-0161-9

Kumar, M., Huang, K.-Y., Othieno, C., Wamalwa, D., Madeghe, B., Osok, J., Kahonge, S. N., Nato, J., & McKay, M. M. (2018). Adolescent pregnancy and challenges in kenyan context: Perspectives from multiple community stakeholders. Global Social Welfare: Research, Policy & Practice, 5(1), 11-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40609-017-0102-8

Lansford, J. E., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (2016). A public health perspective on school dropout and adult outcomes: A prospective study of risk and protective factors from age 5 to 27 years. Journal of Adolescent Health, 58(6), 652-658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.01.014

Maravilla, J. C., Betts, K. S., Abajobir, A. A., Couto E Cruz, C., & Alati, R. (2016). The role of community health workers in preventing adolescent repeat pregnancies and births. The Journal of Adolescent Health: Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 59(4), 378-390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.05.011

Mollborn, S. (2017). Teenage mothers today: What we know and how it matters. Child Development Perspectives, 11(1), 63-69. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12205

Ramakuela, N. J., Lebese, T. R., Maputle, S. M., & Mulaudzi, L. (2016). Views of teenagers on termination of pregnancy at Muyexe High School in Mopani District, Limpopo province, south africa. African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.4102/phcfm.v8i2.945

UNFPA. (2015). Girlhood, not motherhood preventing adolescent pregnancy. Retrieved https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/Girlhood_not_motherhood_final_web.pdf

Whitaker, R., Hendry, M., Aslam, R., Booth, A., Carter, B., Charles, J. M., Craine, N., Tudor Edwards, R., Noyes, J., Ives Ntambwe, L., Pasterfield, D., Rycroft-Malone, J., & Williams, N. (2016). Intervention Now to Eliminate Repeat Unintended Pregnancy in Teenagers (Interupt): A systematic review of intervention effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, and qualitative and realist synthesis of implementation factors and user engagement. Health Technology Assessment (Winchester, England), 20(16), 1-214. https://doi.org/10.3310/hta20160