Teenage Pregnancy and Opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean : On Teenage Fertility Decisions, Poverty and Economic Achievement
The pregnancy project sought to expose the existence, and challenge the validity, of stereotypes about Hispanic women. The charade explored the underlying motivations of the many who responded with a wide range of reactions. The specific objectives...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/01/18612518/teenage-pregnancy-opportunities-latin-america-caribbean-early-child-bearing-poverty-economic-achievement-vol-2-2-teenage-pregnancy-book-2013 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16978 |
| Summary: | The pregnancy project sought to expose
the existence, and challenge the validity, of stereotypes
about Hispanic women. The charade explored the underlying
motivations of the many who responded with a wide range of
reactions. The specific objectives of this regional study
are: to establish a thorough description of the magnitude of
the issue and its potential implications for social
advancement; to advance the understanding of the risk
factors, motivations and impacts at the household level-as a
determinant of poverty and a cause of intra-and
intergenerational poverty traps; to illuminate the coping
mechanisms and their individual and social implications; to
highlight the gender-related issues that have historically
provoked asymmetric costs to boys and girls; and to provide
elements that support specific policies on this matter. In
the last decade, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have
been moving in the right direction and the region has
experienced important gains in gender equality of endowments
(assets) and economic opportunities. In most LAC countries,
girls have been achieving gender parity in primary school
enrollment and even outperforming boys at the secondary and
tertiary level. The present report reviews the factors
associated with teenage pregnancy and early childbearing and
builds a framework to explore these issues systematically,
towards the design of effective policy interventions in LAC.
Teen pregnancy and early childbearing remain a challenge in
the region, particularly given the association of these
phenomena with poverty and lack of opportunities, and the
concern that it may prevent women from taking full advantage
of their human development assets and opportunities. The
main message of the report is that poverty and lack of
opportunities are key factors associated to early childbearing. |
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