Teen Pregnancy Carries Big Price Tag for Utah Taxpayers
None by KCPW
(KCPW News 10-31-06) When you take into account public health care, child welfare costs and the like, children born to teen mothers cost Utah taxpayers 63-million dollars a year.A report from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy estimates that nationwide figure a 9-point-1 billion dollars - and that does not include the cost of public education or other programs children benefit from regardless of their mother's age when giving birth.
Earlier this year, Utah health officials set a goal to reduce teen pregnancy rates in Utah by 20 percent over the next decade. A coordinated education and prevention effort is underway with an emphasis on sexual abstinence.
Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW
1. steve smith said:
Its an interesting statistic, implying that all teenage pregnancies are to unwed mothers. I believe if the data included married vs unmarried, or household incomes, the picture might look different. Teen pregnancy by unwed mothers is certainly a problem but this broad-brush approach ignores Utah's unique demographics a culture and paint us as being the same as LA, Chicago or St. Louis. I do not believe the comparison, or the reports inferred conclusions, hold up under scrutiny.
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