Teen Pregnancies Hurt Quality of Workforce

Births to teenagers are not just a reproductive issue; they undermine our economic growth.

One of the most important initiatives for Memphis and Shelby County is economic development, which includes attracting new business and industry to our city. Having spent 2½ years as the executive director of the Workforce Investment Network (WIN), a federally funded workforce development program, I am very aware that the availability of a skilled workforce is one of the key things businesses look for when deciding where to relocate or expand.

Obtaining a high school diploma 'has been proven time and again as the single greatest deciding factor between a life in poverty and a life of opportunity,' according to the Robin Hood Foundation 2009 annual report.

A high rate of births to teenage mothers has an impact on our future workforce, and is also among the root causes of many other issues facing Memphis, including high crime rates, poverty, infant mortality, low academic achievement, welfare reliance and high school dropout rates.

According to a 2009 study by The Urban Child Institute, approximately 15 percent of all children born in Shelby County are born to teen mothers. This is higher than the state average of 13 percent and the 11 percent national average. In some ZIP codes of the city, the percentage of teen births is as high as 26 percent.

Teen mothers face myriad challenges. The majority are ill-equipped to be responsible parents. They generally lack financial stability, an adequate education, job skills and familial role models. In Shelby County, teens who are pregnant are 50 percent less likely to obtain prenatal care than adult pregnant women. This has resulted in a high percentage of babies born with low birth-weight, which is a precursor of infant mortality.

Of the teen mothers in Shelby County, 85 percent reported annual incomes of less than $15,000, according to the Urban Child Institute study.

One of the most important initiatives for Memphis and Shelby County is economic development, which includes attracting new business and industry to our city. Having spent 2½ years as the executive director of the Workforce Investment Network (WIN), a federally funded workforce development program, I am very aware that the availability of a skilled workforce is one of the key things businesses look for when deciding where to relocate or expand.

My time with the WIN gave me a unique perspective on our city's workforce and the number of people who came through our career centers lacking the education and adequate skills to get a job at a self-sufficient wage. We spent countless hours trying to help these individuals, many of whom were single moms with two or three babies and limited education or job skills. Despite the numerous agencies that partnered on the program, helping these individuals obtain the education and skills needed in today's workforce was a significant challenge.

Obtaining a high school diploma 'has been proven time and again as the single greatest deciding factor between a life in poverty and a life of opportunity,' according to the Robin Hood Foundation 2009 annual report.

A high rate of births to teenage mothers has an impact on our future workforce, and is also among the root causes of many other issues facing Memphis, including high crime rates, poverty, infant mortality, low academic achievement, welfare reliance and high school dropout rates.

According to a 2009 study by The Urban Child Institute, approximately 15 percent of all children born in Shelby County are born to teen mothers. This is higher than the state average of 13 percent and the 11 percent national average. In some ZIP codes of the city, the percentage of teen births is as high as 26 percent.

Teen mothers face myriad challenges. The majority are ill-equipped to be responsible parents. They generally lack financial stability, an adequate education, job skills and familial role models. In Shelby County, teens who are pregnant are 50 percent less likely to obtain prenatal care than adult pregnant women. This has resulted in a high percentage of babies born with low birth-weight, which is a precursor of infant mortality.

Of the teen mothers in Shelby County, 85 percent reported annual incomes of less than $15,000, according to the Urban Child Institute study.

The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy says: 'Compared to those who delay childbearing, teen mothers are more likely to drop out of school, remain unmarried, and live in poverty; their children are more likely to be born at low birth weight, grow up poor, live in single-parent households, experience abuse and neglect, and enter the child welfare system.'

Such early negative experiences can actually affect how the brains of these young children grow. A child's brain is more vulnerable to negative influences in the first three years of life than it will be in later years. Research has found measurable differences in brain structure in children who received unresponsive, insensitive parenting in their first years compared with children whose parents were more nurturing.

Girls born to unwed teen mothers 'are three times more likely to become teen mothers themselves' and boys are twice as likely to end up incarcerated.

A community's success can be gauged by the welfare of its children and Shelby County can do better.

Teen births result in a lack of economic growth and lost workforce productivity. The number of federal and state dollars spent steadily increases, yet poverty levels continue to rise.

It is important that we, as a community, realize that teen pregnancy is not simply a reproductive issue. It has economic development, social, financial, productivity and workforce-related consequences that affect local business' bottom lines and make attracting new businesses to the area difficult.

That is why business leaders' involvement in the effort to prevent teen pregnancy is important. Businesses can participate in this effort by supplying teens with summer internships and supporting local agencies that focus on youth development and mentoring programs.

There are many agencies dedicated to addressing the issue of teen births after the fact. Prevention is what is needed, and it can only be achieved through the collaborative efforts of leaders from both the private and public sectors. Business people know it costs less to prevent failure than to try to correct it later.

Deborah Hester-Harrison is president and CEO of Girls Inc. of Memphis.

This is one in a series of monthly guest columns on the importance of public/private investment in early childhood. For more information, call The Urban Child Institute at 385-4233 or visit theurbanchildinstitute.org.

Originally appeared in The Commercial Appeal at http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/may/08/guest-column-teen-pregnancies-hurt-quality-of/