Martha’s Foundation Private Benefit Event

Martha’s Foundation Private Benefit Event

P.O. Box 9532 Tulsa OK.74157

Martha’s Foundation goal for each client, besides having a safe place to live; is to encourage the delay of a second pregnancy, until high school graduation or college; by empowering and supporting our teen mothers in their reproductive decisions; through education; peer to peer relationships, mentorship and developmental strategies that enhance young people’s sense of empowerment and control; while deepening their connection to family, schools and community.

Statistics from the National Survey of Family Growth finds:

82% of sexually active teenage mothers were using contraceptives in the year following the birth of their first child. While deepening their connection to

Rates of nonuse were particularly high among black women younger than 18; 68% compared to 85% of the white women their ages.

Black women constitute the majority of women unmarried at the time of their first child.

The probability of a pregnancy during the year following a first birth for all teenage mothers was17%

Women with income less than 150% of poverty level were nearly twice as high as rates among women who had incomes above that level2 % versus 11%

20% of teens who became pregnant in the year following the birth of the first child were not using any method of contraception in the month of conception.

The negative consequences of teenage childbearing, including the mother’s decreased prospects for education, economic well-being and marital stability, have all been documented.

Women who start childbearing in their teens have more children, have them closer together, bear more unwanted children and have more out-of- wedlock births than women who delay it.

Facts from Advocates for Youth; Rights, Respect, Responsibility

U.S.Teen pregnancy, birth and abortion rates have declined overall, but are still higher than those in many industrialized nations.

Older teens account for the m majority of teen pregnancies, births, and abortions but many younger teens are affected. (In 2006 over a thousand youth under the age of 14 gave birth.

Young women in their twenties experience many unintended pregnancies.

Youth of color experience pregnancy and birth at disproportionate rates, while whites count for the highest numbers.

Teens who have low expectations for their futures or feel that they lack control over their lives are more likely to experience pregnancy.

Teen pregnancy and birth create barriers to success for teens and their children.

1: 51%teen mothers are less likely to attain a high school by age 22. (51% vs. 89%

2:  Less than 2% of teen mothers complete college by age 30.

Earnings compared over the first 15 years of motherhood, women who were teen mothers earn significantly less than women who were not.

Teen mothers are also more likely to be on welfare.

Over 1/5 of births to teens in the U.S. are second births.

Children of teen mothers are more likely to be born prematurely and/or at low birth weight, placing them at higher risk for other health problems.

Among teens, pregnancy is both a cause and result of poverty and low academic achievement.

The cycle of poverty; in which very young mothers often stay poor, and their children are at risk for teen pregnancy, poverty, and lower academic outcomes