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Suggested Citation:"Foreword." National Research Council. 1987. Risking the Future: Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing, Volume II Statistical Appendices only. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/944.
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Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Foreword." National Research Council. 1987. Risking the Future: Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing, Volume II Statistical Appendices only. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/944.
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Suggested Citation:"Foreword." National Research Council. 1987. Risking the Future: Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing, Volume II Statistical Appendices only. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/944.
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Page R9
Suggested Citation:"Foreword." National Research Council. 1987. Risking the Future: Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing, Volume II Statistical Appendices only. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/944.
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Foreword Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing are matters of substantial na- tional concern. Even the analysis and description of these phenomena, much less prescriptions for altering present trends, are highly controver- sial. And it is all too easy to avoid or to deal only obliquely with issues that arouse so many deep-seated emotions and convictions. There is, nonethe- less, broad agreement that the personal and public costs resulting from unintended pregnancies and untimely birth are far too high to counte- nance an indifferent response. Discontinued educations, recluced employ- ment opportunities, unstable marriages (if they occur at all), low incomes, and heightened health and developmental risks to the children of adoles- cent mothers are a few of the most obvious and immediate personal costs. Sustained poverty, frustration, and hopelessness are all too often the long- term outcomes. Furthermore, the welfare, Medicaid, ant! Food Stamp program costs in 1985 for families begun by a birth to a teenager reached $16.65 billion. Programs and services to prevent pregnancy and improve the life chances of teenage parents and their children have appeared in increasing number since the mid-1970s, frequently stirring up powerful or vocal advocates and opponents. An ever more impassioned debate has drawn public, private, voluntary, and philanthropic organizations into a continu- ing pursuit for "solutions" to the perceived problems. Yet, after more than a decade of experience, there seemed to many observers an imbalance in emphasis between what people believed ant! what policy makers, professionals, and society in general knew about the impacts and cost- effectiveness of alternative prevention ant] amelioration strategies in light . . v`'

viii FOREWORD of better scientific knowledge about early sexual and fertility behavior. There seemed to be distressingly little discussion about how various interventions work, for whom, under what circumstances, and with what intended and unintencled effects. And what were the most promis- ing directions for future policy and program development? In 1983, at the urging of several of its members, the Committee on Child Development Research and Public Policy within the National Research Council proposed the establishment of a study panel to conduct a broad and dispassionate review of relevant research and program experi- ence and to recommend approaches for policy formulation, program design, research, and evaluation. In 1984, with generous support from five foundations the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation the Panel on Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing began its study. Over a two-year period, this broadly interdisciplinary 15-person panel and its staff and consultants undertook three major tasks: (~) to assemble, integrate, and assess data on trends in teenage sexual and fertility behavior; (2) to review and synthesize research on the antecedents ant} consequences of early pregnancy and childbearing; and (3) to review alternative preventive and ameliorative policies and programs. In meeting its charge, the panel developed two volumes. Volume T presents the panel's findings, conclusions, and recommendations. De- tailed background reviews of existing research on factors affecting the initiation of sexual intercourse, contraceptive use, pregnancy and preg- nancy resolution, and the consequences of teenage pregnancy, childbear- ing, and parenting for young mothers, fathers, ant} their children, as well as the costs and effects of policies and programs, constitute Volume TI. Also included in Volume IT is a comprehensive statistical appendix present- ing data from a variety of sources on trends in teenage sexual and fertility behavior. Throughout Volume ~ the panel refers to the papers and the statistical appendix in Volume I] to support its deliberations. The panel based its study on both existing information and new analyses of existing data. These sources were supplemented by workshops and inclividual discussions with many federal, state, and local policy makers, program designers, service providers, and evaluators, as well as site visits to a variety of programs across the nation. In accordance with institutional policy, this report has been extensively and thoroughly reviewed by incli- vicluals other than members of the study panel.

FOREWORD ix In recent years, many other individuals and groups representing an array of moral, philosophical, ant] political perspectives have addressed the complex and controversial issues surrounding adolescent pregnancy. Many have developed recommendations and guidelines for policy makers, service providers, parents, and aclolescents themselves. This report is one step in a continuing process of inquiry, review, and synthesis. As a scientific body, the Panel on Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing sought to clarify the issues, sharpen awareness of crucial decision points, and define the limits of existing knowledge. Although science cannot resolve issues that are inextricably bound to differences in human values, it can illuminate the tracle-offs among different political and icleological positions, and we believe this report will inform the continuing public debate. On behalf of the members of the parent Committee on Chilc} Develop- ment Research and Public Policy, ~ wouIc} like to acknowledge the special contribution of Daniel D. Federman, who served as pane! chair. His commitment of time, energy, and intellectual resources over the past two years has been extraordinary. In large part, the success of this study is due to his exquisite leadership. Acknowledgment is also due to the other members of the Pane] on Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing. All gave generously of their time and knowlecige throughout the stucly. As a diverse group of individuals, they are to be commended for producing a unanimous report on a topic that inevitably raises public controversy and . . . stirs persona . convictions. The members of the panel join the committee in extending our great appreciation to the staff of the study. Cheryl D. Hayes, the stucly director for the panel as well as the parent committee, once again clemonstrated the enormous energy, outstanding thoroughness, and great skill for which she is well known to many of us. Special thanks go also to Celia Shapiro, staff assistant to the committee ant! the panel, for her tireless attention to administrative detail throughout the study anal for her patience ant! persis- fence in assembling the references for the two volumes. We gratefully acknowledge the significant contribution of Sandra L. Hofferth of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, who au- thored many of the research reviews that informer} the panel's delibera- tions and coeditec3 Volume lI of the report. The efforts of Dee Ann Wenk of the University of Kentucky, who served as statistical consultant and worked with members of the pane! and the staffin compiling the data ant} preparing the numerous tables and figures that appear in the report and the

x FOREWORD statistical appendix, are also gratefully acknowledged. Margaret A. Ens- minger and Donna M. Strobino, both of Johns Hopkins University, served as consultants and authored thoughtful background papers that are included in Volume Il. Finally, Christine L. McShane, editor for the Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, edited the report with a critical eye and managed the final production of the volumes. The panel has also benefited from the contributions of several individ- uals who prepared special tabulations of existing data to help it address a number of difficult issues that remain unresolved in the available research. Special thanks are clue Frank Mott of the Center for Human Resource Research at Ohio State University, William Pratt, Marjorie Horn, Chris- tine Bachrach, and Stephanie Ventura of the National Center for Health Statistics, and Stanley Henshaw of the Alan Guttmacher Institute. Many other indivicluals played an important role in the panel's deliberations by providing information, critical analysis, advice, and reviews of the draft report and the draft background} papers. Their thoughtful comments and insights are reflected in the final manuscripts. Finally, this study would not have been possible without the generous support of our foundation sponsors. On behalf of the Committee o Child Development Research and Public Policy, ~ would like to extend special thanks to Mary Kritz of the Rockefeller Foundation, Pruclence Brown of the Ford Foundation, Anne Firth Murray of the William ant} Flora Hewlett Foundation, Paul lellinek of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Marilyn Steele of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Their encouragement and advice greatly enhanced the study at every stage. WILLIAM A. MORRILL, Chair Committee on Child Development Research and Public Policy

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More than 1 million teenage girls in the United States become pregnant each year; nearly half give birth. Why do these young people, who are hardly more than children themselves, become parents? The statistical appendices for the report Risking the Future: Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy, and Childbearing provide additional insight into the trends in teenage sexual behavior.

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