TEEN PREGNANCIES

Jane Galt, at Asymmetrical Information, has an interesting post on the recent decline in teen pregnancies (you also need to read the comments - a lot of speculation on the reasons). Based on working as a high school teacher during those years, I would venture to guess that the change in support for teens via welfare was a MAJOR contribution to the drop. Most of the girls spent time discussing what support they would be entitled to (OK, I'm nosy, I eavesdropped), and most decided that the risk wasn't worth it. I went from at least 8-10 9th graders pregnant (out of less than 150 students, only 1/2 of them female - you do the math) to 1-3 preggos a year.