<p>Scout59:</p>
<p>I think your posts citing recent research indicating that poverty drives teen pregnancy and not vice versa are extremely interesting. I agree with this line of thinking to a large extent, actually. At my kids’ public school – over 50 percent free school lunch – getting pregnant was seen as getting an income stream from the government. It was a bizarre entrepreneurial action for a lot of girls. It’s what their moms did. It was the family business to some extent. Why strive in classes to get ahead when you can start making a living having babies?</p>
<p>I don’t mean to be crude about this and suggest that this is the case for all pregnant teens. Of course not! I also know a girl from a family with professional parents who is quite academically talented who got pregnant in 10th grade. The families of the girl and boy rallied round them, they finished high school and are in college. The grandparents are raising the baby. I don’t think this girl saw unprotected sex as a means of gaining an income at all. </p>
<p>I do think sorting through the economic forces underlying teen pregnancy is terrifically important. It’s funny how economics can drive unexpected and unwanted behavior.</p>