How Culture and Education Can Effect Teen Pregnancy Rates

Factors That Could Lead to Teen Pregnancy Within Various Cultures and Communities

In this course we studied the representation of teen pregnancy in Juno and a Handmaid’s Tale though despite our exposure to various aspects of teen pregnancy, we did not go in depth to learn about how different cultures view teen pregnancy and abortion differently. Interestingly enough due to data from the Guttmacher Institute, between 5 developed countries there was great difference in teen pregnancies and their abortion rates. Could this be correlated with their education, the accessibility to contraception or have anything to do with their cultural stance on sexual activity? These are the questions that led me to educate myself further on this topic and select this topic for my wiki page.

Firstly, according to research done at the Guttmacher Institute in 2001 (https://www.guttmacher.org/about/journals/psrh/2001/11/differences-teenage-pregnancy-rates-among-five-developed-countries-roles), “Adolescent pregnancy, birth, abortion and sexually transmitted disease (STD) rates are much higher in the United States than in most other developed countries.” To get this information, they compared data collected by the government and nationally representative surveys from the US, Great Britain, Canada, France and Sweden and found great differences in the statistics collected. The US evidently had the highest percentage of adolescent childbearing, 22% of women reported having had a child before the age of 20 and conclusively US teenagers had the highest abortion rate, likely because of their high pregnancy rate. There was little to no variance in the age of first sexual experience throughout the 5 countries but the US reported the most likely to have multiple partners, therefore leading to the highest STD counts.

Where do the differences come from?

Since 5 developed, educated countries are being compared, why is there such a difference between them? Could these differences be due to the difference of culture? Difference of focus of education between countries? Throughout this course there has been emphasis on culture effecting more than what meets the eye. Whether it be beliefs, actions, morals or the importance of education, culture plays a huge role in the development of a person, what is important to them and their outlook on life. The countries with lowest teen pregnancy rates such as Sweden (4%) and France (6%) may have cultural differences which led them to this since culture is such a huge part of a person’s upbringing.

How Education Comes Into Play

Additionally, the rates of teen pregnancy could have to do with the type of education and what countries focus more on the health and sexuality aspect in school. Some countries value academics and some see the value of having a well-rounded education including health and sexuality exposure. Perhaps the countries with the lower teen pregnancy rates have the greatest amount of time in schools dedicated to sexual education, therefore teens know and understand the accessibility to contraceptions and the risk of unprotected sexual activity. In the middle of the statistics there is Canada (11%) and Great Britain (15%), who perhaps do not dedicate as much education to sexual activity and contraception, but slightly more than the US (20%).

Healthcare

The US also could be at a disadvantage because they have to pay for their own healthcare. People may not be getting educated by their doctors since they would not go as often because it costs a lot of money. I know that after the age of 16, Canadian doctors start to educate teens about sexual activity and contraception during regular checkups which may not be done as thoroughly because medical care is more expensive therefore less people go. This lack of medical support could be a factor in the higher teen pregnancy rates in the US.

Culture

There are many other factors to consider when comparing statistics of teen pregnancy between countries and cultures. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services (http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/reproductive-health/teen-pregnancy/trends.html) “numerous individual, family, and community characteristics have been linked to adolescent childbearing. For example, adolescents who are enrolled in school and engaged in learning (including participating in after-school activities, having positive attitudes toward school, and performing well educationally) are less likely than are other adolescents to have or to father a baby. At the family level, adolescents with mothers who gave birth as teens and/or whose mothers have only a high school degree are more likely to have a baby before age 20 than are teens whose mothers were older at their birth or who attended at least some college. In addition, having lived with both biological parents at age 14 is associated with a lower risk of a teen birth. At the community level, adolescents who live in wealthier neighbourhoods with strong levels of employment are less likely to have or to father a baby than are adolescents in neighbourhoods in which income and employment opportunities are more limited.” This goes to show that although it is somewhat dependent on culture, other factors such as the upbringing of the child and the wealth of the family make a big difference in teen pregnancy rates as well.

Conclusion

All this being said, of course teen pregnancy is preventable but some people have access to healthcare, the understanding of contraception and the education that must come with it more easily than others, which leads to higher teen pregnancy rates in those particular countries. This new outlook on teen pregnancy will hopefully make those who have been judgemental in the past really take a look at the factors contributing to the pregnancy, although it is something one has personal control over, it could have contributing factors such as culture and education or lack thereof. Instead of directly blaming the mother and father-to-be for not being safe enough, one must look at the other factors too, recognizing that some communities, countries and cultures are more or less susceptible to teen pregnancy. We must spread our knowledge so that all cultures are able to provide safe and healthy education to their teens.

Mackenzie Stevens GRSJ 224A