>>>>and the unwillingness to get an abortion - which will correlate in itself with religion and education
>>
>>Yep, and use of contraception. Rates of both teen pregnancy and abortion have been falling in the US since the 1990s, mostly attributed to contraception. You're right about correlations: African American teens are more than 4 times as likely as Caucasian teens to be pregnant- but you'd need to look at poverty/educational expectation to decide whether chicken or egg came first.
>>
>>>>I am not so certain that the growing trend of 45+ year mothers and (mother+x) fathers is that much better, even if monetary issues are less.
>>
>>Having first baby while in the workforce at least means you finished school. Teen mothers often don't finish school which restarts the poverty cycle as their employment options immediately are limited and/or risky.
>
>And then there's that nasty little concept known as choice and decision-making.
In addition to Dorris's comments, worth pointing out that our best understanding of the brain now says that the prefrontal cortex, where judgment and decision-making reside, doesn't complete development until the early 20's. IOW, the reason teens make bad choices is that the part of their brain where choices are made isn't finished yet.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=141164708Tamar
