Teen Pregnancy Rates and Dropout Rates Go Hand-in-Hand
May 07, 2013(Washington, DC) Today, the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) announced its support for the Pregnant and Parenting Students’ Access to Education Act, which was just introduced in the Senate by Senators Tom Udall (D-NM ) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and in the House by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO). This bill will target the educational and related needs of pregnant and parenting teens to improve the graduation rates and chances of success for those students and their children.
The statistics are a compelling call to action: Every year in the United States, there are approximately 750,000 teen pregnancies. Nearly 3 in 10 girls in the U.S. get pregnant at least once before age 20. Only 51% of women who gave birth as a teen get a high school diploma by age 22 compared to 89% of women who did not have a teen birth. And in a nationwide survey of dropout youth, 33% of female dropouts and almost 20% of male dropouts said that becoming a parent was a major factor in their decisions to leave school.
“Pregnant and parenting teens face enormous barriers to enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school,” said Marcia Greenberger, Co-President of the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). “They juggle schoolwork with the rigorous demands of caring for an infant or toddler, the financial challenges of supporting a child, and the difficulty of finding affordable child care. Far too many still face illegal sex discrimination, harassment, and fall prey to the prevalent stereotypes that they cannot succeed. These steep hurdles suggest why so many students fall between the cracks of an educational system that fails to address these challenges. Only a fraction of school districts undertake serious efforts to help these vulnerable students, and it’s high time that more do. This bill offers a critical lifeline to at-risk students and improves the chances that they will graduate ready for college and careers.”
The Pregnant and Parenting Students Access to Education Act articulates a clear objective: to improve high school graduation rates and access to postsecondary educational and career opportunities. The legislation will set up a grant program to get needed funds to states and local school districts. Among other things, grantees will be expected to offer academic support and related services to pregnant and parenting students, to designate a coordinator to oversee the education of pregnant and parenting students, and to revise school policies to remove barriers, some of which discriminate based on pregnancy in violation of Title IX. It aims to change the culture at schools, so that these students are no longer stigmatized and instead are encouraged to reach their educational goals. It also will help parenting students secure affordable child care and transportation services, and will invest resources in outreach to increase the enrollment and retention of pregnant and parenting students in school.
The Center urges the Senate and House to move quickly to enact this bill.
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