What are the incarceration costs and why are they only for the sons of teen mothers?
These costs reflect the fact that sons born to teen mothers are significantly more likely to spend time in prison when they are adults compared to children whose mothers delay birth until 20 or 21 (specifically, 2.2 times more likely for sons born to teen mother 17 and younger and 40 percent more likely for sons born to teen mothers aged 18 – 19). The analysis tracks the sons of teen mothers through their early 40s. The analysis did not track the incarceration rates for the daughters of teen mothers because of the relatively small size of this particular cohort. Since incarceration is so costly, even relatively small differences in rates of incarceration results in sizable cost impacts. The analysis only captured the costs for state prisons, which is where most people are incarcerated. We were not able to apportion costs for federal prisons back to each state. This also means that, for the most part, the costs only reflect prisoners who are residents of a particular state (whereas resi
