Teen births cost U.S. Government $9.1 billion in 2004

The U.S. government in 2004 incurred at least $9.1 billion in costs related to teen births, despite significant decreases in teen pregnancy and birth rates since the early 1990s, according to a report released on Monday by the National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy, USA Today reports (Koch [1], USA Today, 10/30).

The teen birth rate and teen pregnancy rate from 1991 through 2002 decreased by 30% and 36%, respectively, according to figures from the government and the Guttmacher Institute (Koch [2], USA Today, 10/30).

The report -- titled "By the Numbers: The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing" and written by Saul Hoffman, an economics professor at the University of Delaware -- found that $8.6 billion of the $9.1 billion the government paid in 2004 birth-related care was for girls age 17 and younger.

According to the report, the costs included $1.9 billion for health care, $2.3 billion for child welfare, $2.1 billion for incarceration and $2.9 billion in lower tax revenue.

Children born to teenagers have higher health care, foster care and incarceration costs than children born to older women.

In addition, children born to teen mothers on average earn a lower income as adults and pay less in taxes, the report found.

In addition, girls who gave birth at ages younger than age 17 are more than twice as likely as women who had their first child at ages 20 or 21 to have a child placed in foster care, to be reported for child abuse or neglect and to have a son incarcerated, the report found.

NCPTP Director Sarah Brown said, "It's important to remind people the problems [related to teen pregnancy] are very serious and expensive" (Koch [1], USA Today, 10/30).

Brown also said that the drop in the teen pregnancy rate is a "combination of many factors," including welfare reform, reduced benefits, and more schools, churches and community groups offering abstinence and sex education programs.

HIV and sex education programs nationwide also are contributing factors, Douglas Kirby of the health education organization ETR Associates said, adding that the most significant drop generally is in states with comprehensive sex education programs (Koch [2], USA Today, 10/30).