Glorifying teen pregnancy

[anriana]

~100 years ago "family values" was having two or three children before you reached eighteen.

[Greenday]

And just what percentage of pregnancies do you chalk up to that reason for procreating?

Not ridiculously high, but it's happening more and more these days.

[AFPheonix]

Is it? Or are you just extrapolating from a few choice headlines in gossip magazines?

[Greenday]

I don't read gossip magazines. And once again, I'm not saying it's a high percentage of woman who get pregnant for that reason, it's probably pretty low. But it still happens and I have a problem with that.

[powerboy]

I am with Greenday on this. There is lot of woman and families for that matter that does just that.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Sure attitudes regarding unwed mothers is changing. In the case of Palin I have no problems with this and am very thankful. Remember that a few decades ago that woman would have been "cast out" by society and would have been in a word...screwed. No job prospects, no chances to enter a college (even if they had the money so to do) and left as a burden of the taxpayers in a shelter somewhere.

I still agree that it's something that needs to be addressed and that it shouldn't happen unless one is ready to have children emotionally, and financially...but at least people like Palin who have the support of family still has a chance to make something of themselves and not be a drag on society.

40 years ago they didn't even have a whelks chance in a supernova. Hell 40 years ago being a bastard still screwed you up. Yes, the one who is totally blameless in this game was the one who caught as much if not more hell than the unwed mother.

Attitudes change. Sometimes for the good, sometimes for the worse. This time the attitude needs to reflect the situation and not be a blanket attitude.

M

[Boozy]

I am with Greenday on this. There is lot of woman and families for that matter that does just that.

The whole thing sounds like a strawman to me. It's likely that only a vanishingly small percentage of women get pregnant just to live off the state, but if the media hears about one, it's all over the news. Just more of that outrage porn that people eat up.

Of course there are more than a few single mothers who require welfare or food stamps to survive and feed their kids, but it would be wrong to say that this is the reason they got pregnant in the first place. Being a single mom on state assistance doesn't sound like hitting the jackpot to me.

[Sableonblonde]

I of course have no way of saying what percentage of young women get pregnant in order to live of off state assistance, but the fact is that a goodly number have no problem taking advantage of it, which is the same thing. "Oh look, I'm knocked up, I can't possibly support a baby - ooh, I'll just go on government assistance. I'll be taken care of. And then when I'm on assistance and not working or doing anything productive, I'll get knocked up AGAIN. And then maybe a third time! And the government will pay for me to go to school, give me a brand new laptop, pay for an apartment..." Seriously, I see this every day where I work. Every day.

[blas87]

My problem with single mothers living in section 8, on welfare and foodstamps and WIC........with DIGITAL CABLE and going to school for free.

Yes. You heard me. My ex roomate's gf was a single mother living in an apartment that was government subsidized, receiving a welfare check and foodstamps...yet she had DIGITAL CABLE.

What's wrong with this picture? I'm not saying just because you're poor you shouldn't have TV...but if I work 40 hours a week and am only supporting myself with my income and I cannot afford it, they shouldn't be able to have it either. Hell, if the landlord didn't provide free cable (not digital) where I live, I would ONLY have the free channels, which there are only like 6 of.

And don't get me started on college. Sure, no girl should be punished for getting knocked up and no woman should feel she can't go to college just because she has a baby....but if I am denied financial aid and I am dirt poor, NO children, full time job, TOTAL independence from parents......why should a single mother get a free ride through college just because she popped out a kid? Here I am working my ASS off and I cannot afford to go to school or I have to pick from school or work (because I can't do both, I HAVE to work full time, I cannot move back home to mom and dad's, full time work is the ONLY sure option)......and I can't even get anywhere.

It's. Not. Fair.

Sorry for the rant.

[AFPheonix]

I of course have no way of saying what percentage of young women get pregnant in order to live of off state assistance, but the fact is that a goodly number have no problem taking advantage of it, which is the same thing. "Oh look, I'm knocked up, I can't possibly support a baby - ooh, I'll just go on government assistance. I'll be taken care of. And then when I'm on assistance and not working or doing anything productive, I'll get knocked up AGAIN. And then maybe a third time! And the government will pay for me to go to school, give me a brand new laptop, pay for an apartment..." Seriously, I see this every day where I work. Every day.

For starters, what percentage? No one has yet quoted me this magic percentage of girls who are getting pregnant just to get foodstamps or health care that doesn't cover more than the basics.
Second of all, heaven forbid that they should apply to a program that's there specifically to help people like them. Heaven forbid that they should try to get food on the table and healthcare for their kids, despite the fact that statistically they aren't qualified for much more than a minimum wage job, which most of us know, those paychecks don't stretch very far.
In fact, I would submit that a "goodly percentage" of these girls are working 2 full time jobs, rather than sitting about eating bon-bons and shooting out babies like gatlings like some of you would like to think. Again, statistically, and you can all google this quite easily, teen pregnancy rates have been falling since the early 90's. They're doing better than we did.

Blas, there are multiple scholarships out there. Fill out a FAFSA, that will get you an idea what you can get for public aid, but there's a wealth of private money out there. Don't let anyone hold you back if you want to go to school. I would imagine that your employer probably has some programs available. Public money may be harder to come by these days simply because too many students are defaulting and causing lenders to tighten their belts, unfortunately.

Are there people who abuse the systems in place? Yes, of course, we've all seen them. There's a few turds that come through my pharmacy. But they are a minority compared to the many more who have gotten the aid they need who actually need it, and the people who are still in line to receive it who need it as well. Having tried to help my BIL to get on public health coverage and failed opened my eyes as to how difficult it really is. Seriously, my state is resorting to a lottery system now, there's that many people applying now because they need help and there's none to be had in the private sector.

[AdminAssistant]

And don't get me started on college.

Ugh, me either. I hate the people who say, "Everyone has the right to a college education". Bullshit. Everyone has the right to EARN a college education. Don't have the grade point, don't like to go to class? Buh-bye. I had to fight the system all the way through my undergraduate to keep my academic scholarship (they set up a lot of traps to get people to lose it). I had to take honors classes every semester, keep a 3.5 grade point, graduate in 4 years, and write a thesis. (Atheletes, who got a lot more money than I did, only had to keep a 2.0. ) The very year I graduated, they reduced the scholarship I had (the top academic scholarship) and made it competitive. Before, you could get that scholarship with a 30 on the ACT.

It's so frustrating. I've worked my ass off for everything I have. I understand the need for social safety nets, but our welfare system is seriously broken.

[Lace Neil Singer]

All I can comment on is what I personally have seen; in other words, young single mums coming to the supermarket and buying stuff with their vouchers and milk tokens (which as well as formula and milk, you can buy veg and fruit, too) with a multipack of fags costing at least £50 in their trolley, along with a couple of crates of beer. They're also the ones who blab constantly into expensive mobile phones; razrs and Blackberries and plug into top of the rage ipods while their spawn wreak havok.

Nope, they're not the majority; but there's enough of them to excite comment. And I'm sure that the single mums who work their butts off to support themselves and their kids are just as irritated by them as the childfree are.

Also; interesting link here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...ve-408186.html

[Sableonblonde]

In fact, I would submit that a "goodly percentage" of these girls are working 2 full time jobs, rather than sitting about eating bon-bons and shooting out babies like gatlings like some of you would like to think.

I will readily admit that it just seems like a high number to me because I see it every day, I work around it. I know these women don't have jobs, and I don't understand why. And there are the women with a boatload of kids who aren't working but going to school. Excuse me, but if you have a bunch of kids then your priority should be WORKING right NOW. Trust me, no one staying at the shelter I work in has two full-time jobs. But they manage to make it to all the field trips the shelter sponsors - amusement parks, baseball games, swimming pools, zoo, museums - just fine.

Second of all, heaven forbid that they should apply to a program that's there specifically to help people like them. Heaven forbid that they should try to get food on the table and healthcare for their kids, despite the fact that statistically they aren't qualified for much more than a minimum wage job, which most of us know, those paychecks don't stretch very far.

If you only have a minimum wage job and are struggling to support yourself then you shouldn't be HAVING a kid. I believe that children are a luxury, not a right. I know that a lot of jobs out there pay very low, and I've never made much more than a little over minimum wage myself because the industry I love working in isn't high paying. There is a disturbing lack of personal responsibility in the world that just keeps getting worse. You have these kids coming into the world who become the responsibility of innocent taxpayers, as neither the mother or father is doing anything to support them. There shouldn't BE any system in place for people who have kids but can't support them. If people can't afford kids then they shouldn't be having them.

[AFPheonix]

Yes. All children are planned for. Oh wait, they're not.

Oh, well then all these women should just stop having sex, those hussies! What percentage of the women in the shelters came from controlling or abusive relationships in which their choice was have sex or "run into a door"?

I dislike strongly that you may see people who may or may not be abusing the system, and you decide to paint a whole lot of people with that same brush.

Lace, I can't speak for the UK's pregnancy rates, I've only ever set foot there briefly in an airport. Our support systems are much different and I'm more familiar with them than yours. However, still basing an opinion based on seeing a few women with a few kids and an expensive cell is still wrong. If your system is broken, then advocate for change in it.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I posted the link as an interesting link, just to show you that yes, there are girls who see having babies as a career choice and no, it's not a strawman. If you read my entire post, you'd see that my vitroil (sp?) is towards those who ABUSE the system, so getting overly defensive is kind of a waste of time, and just makes it seem as tho you're championing the system abusers. Just saying.