Evaluating Outcomes for Teen Mothers

Women in South Africa have had fewer children on average since the 1970s, but the rate of teenage childbearing in South Africa has remained the same, at 54 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 19.1 Similarly, the proportion of women ages 20 to 50 who experienced a birth before age 20 has declined since 1985 but remains historically high (see Box 1, page 2). Large numbers of young mothers are a cause for social concern in South Africa and other countries because of the adverse impact of teenage childbearing on the education and health of teen mothers and their children.