Kids Having Kids

Book excerpt: Teen childbearing in the United States has been declining since 1991, yet we consistently have the highest teen birth rates in the industrialized world. In 1997, Kids Having Kids was the first comprehensive effort to identify the consequences of teen childbearing for the mothers, the fathers, the children, and our society. Rather than simply comparing teen mothers with their childless counterparts, the assembled researchers achieved a new methodological sophistication, seeking to isolate the birth itself from the mother's circumstances and thus discover its true costs. This updated second edition features a new chapter evaluating teen pregnancy interventions, along with revised and updated versions of most first edition chapters.