Posted by rfathers on January 26, 2010
Last February 11, 2009 we reported on this blog about the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ report, Births: Final Data for 2006, which detailed the 3% increase in the birthrate for teenagers bringing the total annual number of births to teenage mothers between the ages of 15 and 19 to 435,436 (10.2% of total births in the U.S. in 2006).
(See that February 11th – blog entry – Births to Teenagers.)
At that time, we promised to bring you more information. Now, the Guttmacher Institute has issued two new reports, (1) U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity on Teen Pregnancy and (2) Facts on American Teens’ Sexual and Reproductive Health. Some of the conclusions in the reports are:
- Between 1990 and 2005:
- 41 percent decline in pregnancies among teenaged girls
- births among teen girls decreased 35 percent
- teen abortions declined 56 percent between 1988 and 2005
- In 2005
- the U.S. teenage pregnancy rate reached its lowest point in more than 30 years
- In 2006:
- the U.S. teenage pregnancy rate increased for the first time in more than a decade, rising 3%
- 750,000 women younger than 20 became pregnant
- about 7% of women (age 15-19) became pregnant
- among all racial and ethnic groups, the teen birthrate reversed its downward trend
- there were 200,420 abortions among 15–19-year-olds
- 27% of pregnancies among 15–19-year-olds
ended in abortion
- In 2007:
- the teen birth rate rose for the second year in a row – about 1 percent (according to a recent U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention study released late last year and published in the Dec. 21, 2009, online edition of Pediatrics)
The Guttmacher Institute Reports
- Kost K, Henshaw S. and Carlin L., U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions: National and State Trends and Trends by Race and Ethnicity, 2010, Guttmacher Institute Report.
- Facts on American Teens’ Sexual and Reproductive Health, Fact on Teens
Why do you think the downward trend reversed and now teen pregnancy is on the rise? What are the causes? What are the solutions? Please comment below.
Help for Combatting Teen Pregnancy
- Christianity Today – “What Works: Why Teens Choose Purity” – Why Teens Choose Purity
- Crosswalk.com- “Real Solutions to Teen Pregnancy” – Real Solutuions
- Christian Mommies – “Mothers’ Influence on Adolescent Sex – How Being Connected to Your Child Can Promote Abstinence” – Mothers’ Influence
- – “” –
I must admit that I was surprised to find very few resources on-line for this topic. If you know of any please give us the information in a comment below. Thank you!
Posted by rfathers on January 14, 2010
This morning I received my regular e-mail newsletter from the National Fatherhood Initiative. I noticed a big ad on their website announcing the release of the first-ever national survey taking an in-depth look at how today’s mothers view fathers and fatherhood.
The 36-page report, Mama Says: A National Survey of Mothers’ Attitudes on Fathering (as well as other smaller summaries), is available on their website (National Fatherhood Initiative).
Below are the Top 14 Findings of the report, copied from this website: Top 14 Findings.
Top 14 Findings – What do moms really think?
- 93% of moms believe there is a father absence crisis.
- Most moms think dad is replaceable.
- Married and cohabiting moms were happier with dads’ performance than moms not living with dad.
- Married moms believe more in the power of marriage to help dad be the best he can be than moms who are cohabitating or separated from dad.
- Dads of young children got better marks than dads of teens.
- Closeness to children and work-family balance were the biggest predictors of mom’s satisfaction with dad (after living arrangement).
- Most moms said they could do a better job of work-family balance if dad provided more help.
- Moms said that “work responsibilities” were the biggest obstacle to dad’s success in fathering.
- Strong religious values are beneficial to helping dads be better fathers.
- Moms think communities of faith are the top place for dads to get fathering help.
- Nonresident dads think they’re doing a better job than the moms who co-parent with them think they are.
- African-American moms weren’t as happy as white or other minority moms, but most of the difference can be explained by living situation or family structure.
- New romantic relationship for dads equals less happy moms.
- Moms who aren’t living with the father of their children identified more and stronger obstacles to his ability to parent.
I am truly grateful to the National Fatherhood Initiative for putting this report together. I invite all of my readers to take a look at this report and the many others on fatherhood that are available on the National Fatherhood Initiative website.
We will definitely discuss this list in our next Joseph the Carpenter Focus Group Meeting (JCFG).
Please let us know what you think about the list of the Top 14 Findings by commenting below.
Thank you.
Akili
Posted by rfathers on February 19, 2009
On January 5, 2009 we posted an article “Take Time for Your Children” See article.
Today we want to share two 30-second commericals from the U.S. Government’s National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse’s “Take Time to Be a Dad” campaign.
These commericals speak for themselves.
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Cheer Leader
A grandmother watches as a father is rehearsing cheerleading routines with his daughter. |
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Super Soaker
We observe a father and his young son engaged in a serious “super soaker” battle. |
For more information on the U.S. Government’s National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse’s, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families Office of Family Assistance.
NRFC – Home page
NRFC – Tips for Absence Fathers
NRFC – Tips for Parents
NRFC – Fatherhood Statistics
Posted by rfathers on February 11, 2009
One of the more significant causes of fathers being separated from their children is the incidence of Teenage Pregnancy and Birth to Teenagers.
In my book On the Outside Looking In we noted that BIRTHS TO UN-WED MOTHERS MEANS BIRTHS TO UN-WED FATHERS. The main problem here is that the mothers generally (in overwhelming numbers) get stuck with taking care of the babies while the fathers are not held accountable – as much. This creates a disadvantage for everyone, including the father because if he does not take responsibility then he does not learn to be responsible and will probably repeat the performance.
In the report cited below, it was concluded that BIRTHS TO TEENAGE MOTHERS DOES NOT MEAN BIRTHS TO TEENAGE FATHERS. More births are occurring to teenage mothers from boys and men who are older than the mothers than to teenage mothers who are impregnated by teenage boys! What does that tell you?
The Report: “Births: Final Data for 2006″
On January 7, 2009 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) released it latest report on birth in the U.S. for the year 2006. This report held some interesting statistics on teen birth rates (ages 15 to 19). Below are some highlights from the report:
Statistics
- 4,265,555 births in the United States in 2006.
- 435,436 births to teenagers, 15-19 years old (10.2% of total births).
- That is a 3% increase in the birthrate for teenagers.
- This increase in 2006 ended a 14-year period of continuous decline in the teen birth rate.
- Teenage birth rates increased in 26 states.
- Mississippi leads the nation with the highest teen birth rate, 6.8% (68 out of 1,000), New Mexico is second with 6.4% and Texas is third with 6.3%.
- New Hampshire had the lowest rate of 1.9% (19 per 1,000).
- Guttmacher Institute Researcher David Landry noted that “Its more costly for youth in the Northeast to have a teen baby than for youth in the South, in terms of opportunities they’ll miss.” Kids in mostly white New Engalnd likely would delay child birth (news.yahoo.com, 1/7/09).
Other Issues
- Health: Teen births have a elevated risk of poor birth outcomes including: low birth weight, pre-term births, infant mortality.
- Social: limited educational and financial resources available to teenage mothers.
- Social: Public cost (to the government) of teenage child bearing is about $9.1 billion yearly.
- One of the Causes: Growing media portrayals of celebrity pregnancy do not help (news.yahoo.com, 1/7/09).
- Problematic Stats on Fathers: Age of the father is not reported on birth certificates for 14% of all births, 25% of births to women younger than 25 and 36% of all unmarried births.
For More Information
- The 102 page report is entitled: “Births: Final Data for 2006″ and is published by the National Center for Health Statistics which is part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in the Department of Health and Human Services. The report is available in printable pdf format: Get Report.
- Wikipedia has an interesting (although dated) article on international teenage pregnancy Wikipedia – Teen Pregnancy
We will provide more information from this report in future posts. Please let us know what you think about the information in the report in a comment below.
Post your comments below, including additional sources of information on teenage pregnancy, methods for prevention, personal experience, resources etc.
Posted by rfathers on December 22, 2008
On the Outside Looking In:
Hope for Separated Fathers Who Want To Be Good Fathers
by Akili Kumasi
ISBN #: 0-9626035-5-4 – ISBN-13: 978-0-9626035-5-6
Too many children grow up in father-absent families because of divorces, separations, and births to un-wed parents. Many have higher risks for academic, social and psychological problems. Pro-active fathers make a positive difference.
On the Outside Looking In encourages separated-fathers to step-to-the-plate with their children while:
- challenging them to be good fathers in spite of being separated from their children
- helping men become better parents
On the Outside Looking In will help separated-fathers:
- make relationships with their children work
- gain cooperation from their children?s mother
- obtain resources for help with starting over
- break the cycles of hopelessness
- See Table of Contents Below
Purchase a copy of
On The Outside Looking In
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Table of Contents – On The Outside Looking In
- Introduction
- Chapter One:
- Breaking-Up Is Hard To Do
- (The Social Phenomenon of the Separated Father)
- Chapter Two:
- Like Father ? Like Son
- (The Impact of Father-Absent Families on Children)
- Chapter Three:
- Starting All Over Again
- (Reconciling With Your Children)
- Chapter Four:
- Do The Right Thing
- (Seven Principles of Good FatherHood)
- Chapter Five:
- Some Do’s and Don?ts for
- (Creating The Right Relationship With Your Children)
- Chapter Six:
- Co-Parenting With Your Children’s Mother
- (Winning Isn’t Everything)
- Chapter Seven:
- New Beginnings
- (Dating, Marriage and Step-Parenting)
- Epilogue: The Reconciled-Father
- Appendix: Resources for the Reconciled-Father
Purchase a copy of
On The Outside Looking In
PAPERBACK BOOK
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Reconciled Fathers Network
Akili Kumasi, Founder
