Articles

Study: Teen childbearing costs in Georgia
cut by declining teen birth rate

Atlanta Business Chronicle

November 28, 2006 — Children born to teen mothers cost Georgia taxpayers at least $344 million in 2004, according to analysis from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

However, a 30 percent decline in the teen birth rate in Georgia between 1991 and 2004 saved taxpayers about $227 million in 2004 alone. Between 1991 and 2004, there were more than 249,000 teen births in Georgia, costing taxpayers an estimated $5.7 billion for the period, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy reported.

About 48 percent of the $344 million in taxes in 2004 went to the federal government, while about 52 percent went to state and local entities.

In Georgia in 2004, annual taxpayer costs associated with children born to teen mothers included $66 million for public health care; $44 million for child welfare; $65 million for incarceration; and $114 million in lost tax revenue due to decreased earnings over the children's career. There are also costs and savings associated with teen mothers and fathers of their children which are factored into the $344 million total.

"I pray that Georgia's decision makers and business leaders take note of these numbers," said Jane Fonda, founder of the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (G-CAPP). "Clearly it makes good fiscal sense, not to mention moral sense, to throw everything we've got into preventing youngsters from getting pregnant and to motivate young mothers to avoid second pregnancies."

G-CAPP is a private, nonprofit organization that is trying to eliminate adolescent pregnancy in Georgia.

The analysis , "By the Numbers: The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing," was authored by Saul Hoffman, a professor of economics and department chair at the University of Delaware.

"This report makes clear that teen pregnancy and child-bearing have significant economic and social costs," said Sarah Brown, director of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. "Making further progress in reducing teen pregnancy will benefit taxpayers and the economy, as well as improve the educational, health, and social prospects for this generation of young people and the next."