ABSTRACT
School-age or adolescent pregnancy has become a source of professional concern only in the last two decades. Prior to that time attention focused on marital status, rather than age. Out-of-wedlock births were believed to place prospective mother and child at increased health and social risk. Teenage childbearing appears to influence economic status through its direct effect on education, family size, and marital status and the impact of these factors on labor force participation, employment, and wages. In the primary prevention area, little was done until the mid-1970’s when family planning clinics began, with federal encouragement, to reach out to adolescent clients. The economic impact of school-age childbearing is obviously enormous. The influence of pregnancy and parenthood on the education, marital status, or family size of the young parents and their eventual effect on private economic well being and public sector costs is cause for grave concern.
