Teen Pregnancy, Rural Poverty and Youth WellBeing Outcomes

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Teen Pregnancy, Rural Poverty and Youth
Well-Being Outcomes

• Anastasia R. Snyder
• Extension Specialist
• Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology and
  Demography
• Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural
  Sociology
• College of Agricultural Sciences
• snyder_at_pop.psu.edu
• http//fipa.aers.psu.edu

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Objectives for Todays Talk

• Discuss trends in child and family poverty among
  rural and urban populations.
• Discuss what we know about family formation and
  teen pregnancy among rural youth.
• Present new findings about teen pregnancy and
  youth sexual risk behavior among the rural and
  urban youth.

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Measuring and Discussing Rurality

• Two main ways to measure rurality are
• Rural/Urban
• Metro/Nonmetro
• Todays talk I will be using metropolitan status
  and when possible using a three category measure
  central city, suburban, nonmetro
• Will also be looking at poverty among PAs rural
  school districts

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Measuring and Discussing Poverty

• Poverty is measured at the individual, family and
  household levels.
• Family and individual poverty are common measures
• Child poverty
• Elderly poverty
• Proportion of countys population in poverty
• We will be discussing poverty at the county,
  family and individual levels today

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Poverty in Nonmetro America

• Poverty is highest in central city metro and
  nonmetro counties
• More nonmetro counties have high (20 or higher)
  poverty
• 4.4 of metro in 2000
• 21.8 of nonmetro in 2000
• Persistent Poverty is more of a problem in
  nonmetro counties
• 12 of all counties
• 2 of metro counties
• 16 of nonmetro counties

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Poverty in Nonmetro America

• Structural and Individual factors contribute to
  poverty in nonmetro areas.
• Structural factors
• Fewer good jobs
• Low-quality schools
• Barriers to employment (transportation,
  childcare)
• Fewer job seeking assistant programs
• Individual factors
• Low education of the adult population

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Comparing Metro and Nonmetro High Poverty and
Persistent Poverty Counties
Source Weber, Duncan, Whitener Miller, 2003
Weber Jensen, 2004
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Percent Poverty Among Married Couple Families
with Children by Residence 1980, 1990, and 2000
Source Snyder McLaughlin, 2004
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Percent Poverty Among Female-Headed Families with
Children by Residence 1980, 1990, and 2000
Source Snyder McLaughlin, 2004
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Poverty and Child and Youth Outcomes

• Child poverty, especially if it is persistent, is
  linked with a host of child and youth outcomes
• Worse physical health
• Delayed cognitive development and worse school
  performance
• Lower social skills
• Lower educational attainment
• Lower self-esteem
• Risky sexual behavior and teen pregnancy
• Partially operates through poor parenting
  practices that result from economic stress

Source Duncan Brooks-Gunn, 1997 Conger,
Conger Elder, 1997
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Family Formation in Nonmetro America

• Numerous recent studies find that nonmetro areas
  have more traditional family patterns
• Younger age at first sex
• Earlier childbearing
• More common to marry after a nonmarital
  pregnancy, closer link between marriage and
  childbearing
• Earlier marriage
• Many patterns are similar to those in suburban
  areas
• Few have examined adolescent sexual behavior and
  rural/urban comparisons in teen pregnancy

Source Abrecht Albrecht, 2004 Heaton,
Lichter Amonteng, 1989 Snyder, Brown Condo,
2004 Snyder, 2005
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Poverty, Nonmetro Status and Risky Sexual
Behavior and Teen Pregnancy

• Use data from the 2002 National Survey of Family
  Growth to examine risky sexual behavior and teen
  pregnancy.
• 7,643 women aged 15-44 in 2002
• 1,150 teens aged 15-19 in 2002
• 2002 NSFG collected by the National Center for
  Health Statistics and the CDC
• Restricted file contains detailed information on
  risky sexual behaviors by nonmetro and family
  poverty status
• Data only available for teens aged 15-19

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Risky Sexual Behavior Among 15-19 Year Old Girls
by Metro Status
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Sex and Pregnancy Among 15-19 Year Old Girls by
Metro Status
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Risky Sexual Behavior Among 15-19 Year Old Girls
by Poverty Status
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Sex and Pregnancy Among 15-19 Year Old Girls by
Metro and Poverty Status
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Risky Sexual Behavior Among 15-19 Year Old Girls
by Metro and Poverty Status
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Sex and Pregnancy Among 15-19 Year Old Girls by
Metro and Poverty Status
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Pregnancy Among 15-19 Year Old Girls
100 increase
48 increase
72 increase
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Coclusions

• Nonmetro teens are engaging in risky sexual
  behavior about as often as other teens.
• More combine sex with drugs
• More have ever had sex and oral sex
• The percent ever pregnant falls between that of
  central city and suburban girls
• More poor youth have ever had sex and have ever
  been pregnant
• A higher percent of poor nonmetro girls engage in
  risky sexual behavior, have ever had sex and oral
  sex, and the percent ever pregnant is equivalent
  to that of central city poor girls.