Reducing the teen pregnancy rate by 10 percent in Nebraska could save the state $2.8 million the first year and $27.8 million over the time it takes those babies to turn 18, according to a study commissioned by the Holland Children’s Institute.
The study recommends the best way to further reduce an already declining teen pregnancy rate is to require "medically accurate, age-appropriate" sex education in public schools, though it stops short of recommending how that happens.
The goal of the study is to provide information and raise awareness of the social and economic costs of teen pregnancy, said John Cavanaugh, the institute's chief operating officer.
"When you look at intergenerational poverty, teen pregnancy is one of the major determinants of whether a person is going to have a successful economic life," Cavanaugh said. "It needs to be a focus."
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The Omaha nonprofit, which advocates for public policy to reduce the number of Nebraska families living in poverty, commissioned the study done by the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Public Health.
The economic impact is based on an estimate of teen births in 2014 and the cost for all of them to use various public assistance programs.Ìý
For all children born to teen moms in Nebraska who were younger than 18 in 2014, state spending would be $429 million -- assuming all children were on the assistance programs, the study found. If just 60 percent used public assistance, the cost would be $257.4 million.
The study's top recommendation -- requiring that public schools teach sex ed -- is a controversial topic that drew hundreds of people to Omaha Public Schools Board meetings to oppose updates to the district's sex education curriculum. And a 2015 legislative study on comprehensive sex education drew a host of angry opponents.
Now individual school districts decide what to teach with regard to sex education.
Opponents often argue sex education should be parents' responsibility and that comprehensive sex education promotes sexual activity.Ìý
The Holland Institute isn't pushing for legislation or state education rules mandating sex ed, Cavanaugh said.
“We’re not making a call for a statewide mandate but we’re identifying issues we think would lead you to a conclusion that the state should be involved,†he said.
The study draws on existing surveys and reports including the latest Centers for Disease Controls’ Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance Survey, which found 53 percent of Nebraska teens had sex in 2013 -- 40 percent during the past three months.
Another report by theÌýGuttmacher Institute found that in 2011 -- the last year such data is available -- 2,500 Nebraska teenage girls 15 to 19 years old got pregnant, and 1,731 gave birth.
Overall, the 2011 teen pregnancy rate in Nebraska was 39 per 1,000 girls, compared to the national rate of 68.
While the CDC says teen pregnancy rates have been declining for years in both Nebraska and nationally, the disparities in teen pregnancies seen nationally hold true in Nebraska as well, the study found. Specifically, older, rural, low-income and minority teenage girls are more likely to get pregnant, even though more than half the teens moms in Nebraska are white.Ìý
An example that mirrors the national trend, the study said, is northeast Nebraska’s Thurston County, which has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state. It’s largely rural, one of the poorest counties in the state and 52 percent of its residents are Native American, the study said.
The report also notes that children of teenage mothers are twice as likely to be placed in foster care, live in poverty and be victims of child abuse and neglect. Just 66 percent of children born to teen moms nationally earn high school diplomas, compared to 81 percent of those born to older moms, the study said.
Teens are more at risk of becoming pregnant if they’ve already had a baby, live in foster care or are homeless, the study said. The latter group is particularly at risk for sex trafficking.
And just 50 percent of teen moms nationally earn high school diplomas by age 22, the study notes.
The study also recommends targeting resources and services to high-risk populations, increasing accessible contraceptive services and promoting teen pregnancy prevention by providing young people with accurate information and high-quality reproductive health services.