Teen Pregnancies Cost U.S. $16.6 Billion, Study Finds

Teen-age childbearing cost the nation $16.6 billion last year and the 513,000 babies born to adolescents in 1985 will receive $6 billion in welfare benefits over the next 20 years, according to a study released today.

The first baby born to a teen-ager last year will receive $15,620 in welfare payments and other government support by the time the child reaches age 20, according to the study released by the privately financed Center for Population Options.

By the time all of these babies reach age 20, the government will have spent $6.04 billion to support them through Aid to Families with Dependent Children, Medicaid and food stamps, said the report, entitled “Estimates of Public Costs for Teen-Age Childbearing.”

The center, founded in 1980, is dedicated to preventing unwanted teen-age pregnancies through increased access to family planning and sexual education services for teen-agers.

The report said a third of the welfare total--$2.4 billion--could have been saved had teen-age mothers waited until they had reached age 20 to have their first baby.

The study estimated that the government spent $16.6 billion last year in welfare costs to support the families started by teen-age mothers. This estimate includes payments for AFDC, Medicaid and food stamps as well as the costs of administering these programs.

“This figure represents minimal public costs in that it does not include other services such as housing, special education, child protection services, foster care, day care and other social services,” the report said.

A study by the Urban Institute estimated that in 1975, teen-age childbearing cost the nation $8.5 billion in welfare payments and administrative costs. Adjusted for inflation, the 1975 figure would be equal to $15.3 billion in benefits, said the new study, by Martha R. Burt.

Her study assumed that families begun by teen-agers accounted for 53% of all families getting AFDC, food stamps and Medicaid benefits. In 1985, the government spent $31.4 billion on these programs for all beneficiaries.

“The public and private sectors are enormously affected by the staggering rates of teen pregnancy,” Judith Senderowitz, the center’s executive director, said in a statement. “This is true not only in hard dollar costs but because of the senseless waste of human potential and self-sufficiency.”

About 1.1 million teen-age girls become pregnant each year and 513,000 continue their pregnancies to birth, according to health statistics.