ABSTRACT
The high level of and recent growth in the number of teen births also have implications for public policy. Twenty-seven percent of teenage mothers receive welfare within a year of giving birth. Among recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children benefits who are less than 30 years old, three-quarters first gave birth as a teenager, in most cases out-of-wedlock. Early childbearing reduces the chances that the child will graduate from high school. The control variables indicating the mother's pre birth characteristics are generally as expected and are often significant. The relationship between early fertility and being inactive as a young adult is weak. Only for the simple model are all the early fertility variables indicating a birth prior to age 19 statistically significant, indicating that early childbearing increases the probability that a mother's child will be economically inactive as a young adult.
