This essay aims to look at the issue of teenage pregnancy. It will firstly look at what teenage pregnancy is, then just how common it is in our society. It will look at the statistics that the United Kingdom currently holds

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Teenage Pregnancy

This essay aims to look at the issue of teenage pregnancy. It will firstly look at what teenage pregnancy is, then just how common it is in our society. It will look at the statistics that the United Kingdom currently holds on teenage pregnancy, which will show why it is so important to combat this and try to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies as early as possible. It will go on to look at the strategies the Government has put in place in order to reduce teenage pregnancy and also ways in which the Government can help these vulnerable group of children once they have given birth, for example helping them back into education and supporting them with factors such as housing.

The occurrence of teenage pregnancy obviously relates to any pregnant female under the age of 20 years old. Young teenage girls become pregnant either with other young teenage males or sometimes with adults. Problems facing this group both before and after the birth of the child come from social factors, not to mention medical or physical concerns. Some of the social factors could include culture, religious beliefs, financial circumstances, education and lack of support or understanding. As there has been a massive increase in teenage pregnancies, this is now becoming a social problem. As with their mothers not always finishing their education due to the fact of becoming pregnant, children of teenage mothers may be having poorer life outcomes, and there is now a higher rate of poverty in certain areas in the country, where there is a high rate of teenage pregnancy. In some areas there may have been a social lack of support and this could have lead to emotional and mental problems in certain teenagers. Many believe that teenage and others should not engage in getting pregnant until marriage (Polan 2003:32). Many teenagers that become pregnant may not be married and this carries a lot of social stigma, especially if it occurs in teenagers of certain different cultures.

Some teenagers who become pregnant at an early age can have a very difficult time and can come across many problems. Many face prejudice and stigma from their communities. In the United Kingdom, most teenage mothers live in poverty, and nearly half are in the bottom fifth of the income distribution (Huges 1999:23).

Unwanted or non-voluntary sex may have been one of the main reasons why a young teenager has become pregnant; this could be because if the girl was so young when she became pregnant she probably would not have the knowledge or be ready to actually carry out sexual activities. Close to four in ten girls who had first intercourse at 13 or 14 report it was either non-voluntary or unwanted. (Blank 2003:12). It is very important that the teenage pregnancy issue is addressed, with more and more young teenagers becoming pregnant. One of the ways to help these young teenagers is to try and get them to participate in a teenage prevention programme. Britain has the second highest teenage birth rate in the developed world, with 32 mothers per 1,000 teenagers in 1998, a rate lower only to that of the U.S. (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre 2001).

This does affect the whole of the UK, but is seems that the poorest areas are more affected than anywhere else.

The government has placed a Teenage Pregnancy Unit within the Department For Education, and it is hoped that once the unit is up and running it will encourage the younger end of the teenagers.

The government have put in place a 10 year strategy, and within this strategy is a plan to help support teenagers with their pregnancies, and to make sure they receive sex education. This is hoped that it will reduce the number of teenage pregnancies. All local authorities have in place a 10 year strategy to both prevent teenage pregnancies and support teenage parents. This includes local targets to reduce under 18 conceptions by between 40% and 60% (Department of Health 2002:19).
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It is one of the governments' main priorities to try and lower the number of teenage pregnancies, and all sexually transmitted infections that have become a problem in the last decade. One of the key focuses within the national healthy schools programme, is to make a framework for the outcomes for young people in their sexual behaviour, and what this means in relation to their health, and this has been reinforced in the White Paper, which is called 'Choosing Health; Making Healthy Choices Easier".

For the Governments ten year strategy plan to work, they must start to ...

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