The Environment
The environments that children grow up in have an important influence on their risk of teen pregnancy. As [researcher D. Kirby] recently wrote:
"Research shows that youths at greatest risk [for teen pregnancy] are more likely to live in areas with: high poverty rates, low levels of education, high residential turnover, and high divorce rates. Their parents are more likely to have low levels of education, to be poor, to have experienced a divorce or separation, or to never have married, and their mothers and older sisters are more likely to have given birth as adolescents."
Increasing the capacity of families and communities to nurture teens and help them stay in school and set goals for their lives may contribute to lower rates of teen pregnancy. Young people who feel supported by parents, school, and community during their adolescence are buffered against the risk of too-early pregnancy.