ABSTRACT
Pregnancy rates in Southern Europe and the situation of teenage mothers vary greatly from one country to another and depend on two crucial factors: the nature of welfare provision and the regulation of adolescents’ sexual and reproductive behaviour. Early motherhood is in our time associated with individuals and communities that are socially excluded, thus the extent to which different Southern European welfare states manage to mitigate the failure of the market or the family through welfare provision plays a crucial role. Sexual and reproductive behaviour of adolescents is influenced by the prevalent gender norms in a particular society and the predominance of religion and cultural attitudes regarding sex and marriage. Combined with a post-crisis Southern European context, these elements influence the provision of sex education, the availability of affordable contraception and abortion legislation. The way these aspects interrelate account for the different teenage fertility rates and the singularity of national policy responses. This chapter will comparatively analyse the different rates of teenage pregnancy and births in different southern European countries and examine the post-crisis social policy responses to teenage pregnancy and parenthood in these welfare states.
