Gender Responsive Budgeting: Workshop for Senior Government Officials, RMI, March 10 and 11 2003
Activity 1: What are the consequences of teen pregnancy?
Workshop participants identified a wide range of possible consequences of teen pregnancy. It was established that teen pregnancy has effects at three levels:- the individual teen parents and child
- the extended family of the teen parents
- the broader RMI society and economy
Workshop participants identified both positive and negative impacts (the positive impacts are presented below in italics).
| Teen parents and child | Family | Society and Economy |
|
School dropout (mainly the mother but in private schools also the father) Social life restricted Difficult to financially support family Poor health for both mother and child Mother and father's relationship breakdown/confused relations between mother and father Dependant on extended family Education and career opportunities (limited/shortened) Lower self esteem Limited social and economic skills Lower future income levels Losing childhood earlier Loss of opportunities Loss of children through international adoption More responsible/higher self esteem/pride More motivated if given opportunities Less generational gap between parents and children |
Added financial burden Added time burden (to immediate and extended family) Reinforces cycle of family/teen pregnancy Family pride/joy Teen fathers background/resource can bring status/ resources to the teen mum's family Strong bonds between grandparents and child Shame and embarrassment amongst some families high expectations for children not met therefore disappointment increased family and community obligations |
Unemployment Population growth (with a large youth component) Lower education levels and lower skills base Lower health status Child care responsibilities may lead to missing work which may lead to difficulty in holding job Lower future revenue levels (tax contributions from wages and businesses) More services required (schools, health) More jobs needed More intervention programs needed (eg second chance/adult education) Blurs laws/ grey areas for teenage parents Less savings and capital for establishing small businesses and increasing trade Unpaid work can contribute to the subsistence economy Parenting contributes to social reproduction Increased demand for products/services therefore increased consumption (and more jobs for public servants!!) Source of unskilled labour Many of these factors combined can lower GNP economic growth |
| Causes of Teen Pregnancy: Some Ministry programmes may seek to deal with the consequences of teen pregnancy whilst others address the root causes. Those programmes dealing with root causes are ultimately a more preventative approach to the problem. Participants identified several possible causes of teen pregnancy in the RMI context. |
| Early Sex
Lack of sex education Lack of access to contraception Sexism/lack of respect for women/low self esteem Inadequate parental guidance and quality time spent with children Mass media (TV, books, films) influences without adequate supervision and alternatives offered by families and culture Child abuse Rape Cultural taboos working against discussion Clash between traditional and western culture which leads to confusion and teenage identity problems Lack of educational/training opportunities Lack of organised recreation Generation gap and communication breakdown Protection laws not implemented/enforced Penalties not imposed and local/national levels Old industries dying faster than the creation of new industries, downsizing of the public sector, slow growth of the private sector leading to lack of job opportunities Social and economic pressure / pressure to participate in the market economy Family breakdown Peer pressure |