Teen Parenting in Shelby County

This brief, The Implications of Teen Parenting in Shelby County, Tennessee, discusses teen parenting in Shelby County, outlines negative outcomes associated with teen parenting, both for children and for parents and provides information about local resources for teen families.It also includes suggestions for parents and policymakers in order to help provide more secure beginnings and improved cognitive, social and emotional developmental outcomes for vulnerable children in our community.

• In Shelby County– there are more births to young teens (aged 15-17) than the state average (37.8 versus 28.6 per 1000).
• Teens today begin having sex at an earlier age and are less likely to marry if they become pregnant.
• More than 80% of young mothers with children live in poverty during their children’s important developmental years.
• The majority of adolescent mothers do not receive a high school diploma or earn their GED certificate before giving birth. Having a baby is highly likely to cause a woman to end her education.
• Many health problems for babies of teen mothers are related to the social and economic conditions that lead to adolescent parenthood, such as poverty and poor neighborhoods