There are many reasons why most parents would prefer that their teenagers do not become parents. A study adds another thing to add to that list. The consequence of teen motherhood lasts for generations.
PLOS One posted a study titled: “The multigenerational effects of adolescent motherhood on school readiness: A population-based retrospective cohort study.” The study was done by one researcher who was from the Stratford University in the United States, one researcher was from the Manitoba Center for Health Policy, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and two other researchers who were from the Manitoba Center for Health Policy and the Community Health Sciences of the University of Manitoba.
The researchers used population-based data to conduct the retrospective cohort study of children who were born in Manitoba, Canada, between 2000 and 2009, and whose mothers were born between 1979 and 1997.
Predictably, the study found that school readiness was highest among children for whom neither mother nor grandmother was an adolescent mom, and was lowest among children at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Among children of adult mothers and adult grandmothers, fewer than a quarter (24%) were deemed not ready for kindergarten.
Nearly half (46%) of children whose mothers and grandmothers were under the age of 20 when their had their first baby were deemed not ready for kindergarten.
Related Articles at Families.com:
- Reasons Parents Should Talk to Their Teens About Pregnancy
- Robot Babies Don’t Prevent Teen Pregnancy
- Kindergarten Readiness