DO TEENAGE MOTHERS SAVE TAXPAYERS MONEY?
What a disgusting question this is, one which expresses the American hostility toward the young, poor, and dark. The notion that babies—selectively applied to poor people’s babies—”cost too much money” is an appalling question on many dimensions. It reduces human beings and human potential to a predetermined red or black bottom line. It is almost impossible to calculate in unbiased fashion. And, in the case of teenage mothers, the calculations have been warped by academic fraud and rank bigotry to produce a politically pleasing result. And so it’s not surprising that this reactionary throwback to long-discredited eugenics has become the central argument for preventing what we call “teenage motherhood”—advanced by liberal lobbies. On top of all that, the latest, most widely respected study of the social costs of teenage motherhood shows they may well save taxpayers money compared to poorer women who wait until their 20s to have babies. In short, the argument against teens having babies
