Phillips, L. (1995, January 20). House focuses on problem of teen pregnancy. USA Today.

OVERVIEW

Kimberly Brown, a "teen parent educator," asks her group of five new and soon-to-be new moms, ‘If you got to the point where you couldn’t deal anymore, who would you turn to?’ They respond in turn, ‘My mama.’ Brown pushes them to think of someone else. Three name their sisters. Not one names the child’s father.

One of Brown’s students, Ramona Duckworth, says she did not think she could call on her baby’s father in times of stress because he is afraid to hold his four-month old daughter. She says she and the baby’s father planned her pregnancy, but that she does not want to marry. Though she considers welfare "a charity, to help out," she also says she doesn’t plan on making "a long-term relationship between (herself) and the welfare office."

Teen pregnancies and out-of-wedlock births are rising at an alarming rate. The new Republican majority in Congress intends to target them in welfare reform. Democrats echo the call. How far will Washington go to change the behavior of young people? Although some experts dispute whether welfare contributes to the high rate of unwed teen pregnancy, teen births have soared in the last 30 years from 92,000 in 1960 to 368,000 in 1991. Almost 80% of teen moms are on welfare within five years of giving birth.

In Wisconsin, as in other states, governors are experimenting with policies encouraging teen mothers and fathers to marry and reduce their welfare dependency. In four test counties, benefit penalties for married couples no longer apply. Mothers must stay in high school in order to receive government benefits and enroll in sex education, parenting, and job training classes. Absent fathers must pay child support or enroll in job training or community service. Benefits decrease for additional children born out of wedlock.

Tougher welfare policies raise other issues. ‘We want to discourage teenage pregnancy,’ says Representative Clay Shaw, R-Florida, a leader on welfare reform, ‘But we’re not going to forget the babies brought into this world through no fault of their own.’

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. What are the issues here? With regard to the baby of an unmarried teenager, what responsibility lies with the mother, the father, the families of the mother and father, and the government?
2. What, in your opinion, are the advantages and disadvantages of limiting and reducing welfare to unwed mothers and of turning control of welfare policies from national to state levels?
3. How would you advise a teenage mother? A teenage father?
4. How would you counsel girls who want to get pregnant?

IMPLICATIONS

1. Families are the foundation for human development and the basic structure of society. Our goal should be that a child has a father, mother, and whole village to help his or her growth to manhood or womanhood.
2. Single parents must be helped in raising their children.

Sheila Walsh cCYS