ABSTRACT
Teenage parenting continues to be a significant social problem despite dramatic declines in the rates of adolescent pregnancy and childbearing in the United States since the early 1990s. More than 750,000 teens become pregnant each year, with more than 50% resulting in live births. Of these births, approximately 90% of the mothers choose to assume the responsibilities of parenting themselves, rather than placing their children for adoption. Considerable research suggests that many teen mothers and/or their children are at risk for a variety of developmental problems (Furstenberg, Brooks-Gunn, & Morgan, 1987). This book describes the fate of a representative sample of teen mothers and their children-born in the late 1980s and early 1990sacross the first 8 years of their lives.
