How much does teen pregnancy cost District taxpayers?
Each year, Washington DC spends hundreds of millions of dollars on support programs for families that were started by teens. For the community, the economic cost of teen pregnancy is staggering. At Washington Hospital center, 15 percent of all adolescent births are high-risk. Each high-risk birth can cost an average of $57,000 verses $6,180, which is the cost of a normal birth. Children of adolescent mothers are twice as likely to be victim of abuse and neglect. Annually about 5 percent of children with teen parents go into foster care, which can cost upwards of $20,000 per child. Boys born to teen parents are nearly three times more likely to wind up in jail than the sons of mothers who delayed childbearing until their twenties and prison costs are over $50,000 per year. What can we do to help DC Campaign achieve its mission? Put the needs of DC adolescents at the top of the citys policy agenda. The most current DC data is 79 pregnancies per 1,000 girls 15-19 years old, a significant
