TRIADOPTION ® Library, Inc. - CA ~ Pg 369-480

teacher by telephone. Respondents represented
about half the total students
ei~rol'led in the program during the first
six years of its existence. Some inter-
esting -- and quite positive -- information
about young mothers was revealed.
Sixty-four (63 per cent) of the respondents
have graduated from high
school. An additional nine were still
in high school. Only 28 percent of the
TMP dlumnae have dkopped out -- a sharp
contrast to the 80 percent dropout rate
for young mothers generally.
Sixteen of the high school graduates
(33 percent of the graduat;s, 16
percent of the total respondents) are
either in college or have been enrolled
in college classes.
Eighty-seven (86 percent) of the
respondents have worked in the past
and/or are working now. Of the remaining
twenty-four, t;n are still in school.
Eleven of the others are married. Only
three of the mothers who are single and
not in school have never been employed,
one because her child is only seven
months old.
While 71 (70) percent of these former
students were on welfare at some
time, usually during pregnancy and for
a short time afterward, only 23 still
receive AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent
Children). Of these 23, 10 are
still in school, three are working and
will soon be independent of welfare.
Only one in ten of the respondents is
not working, not in school, and is still
receiving welfare! Each of these young
women is a single mother, and several
n,entioned having worked in the past
and/or planning to go back to school
or find work in the near future.
A
recent Rand Corporation survey
of California families headed by a single
parent under the age of 25 showed 90
percent of these families depending on
welfare if the younq parent had not
earned her/his high school diploma.
TMP alumnae don't fit this statistic!
Half of the respondents (50) are
still with the father of the baby, and
most of these couples are married.
Some young mothers offered advice
to other teenagers. Typical was the
follow in C q : "Having children at a young
age is satisfying to me, but sometimes
I wish I had waited. I love my - children,
and I wouldn't give them up for
anything, but 1 don't advise anyone
who has big plans to get pregnant too
young. Your children should always
come first, and with plans for the future,
it's not always possible to spend
enough time with them. 11
Another young mother commented,
"I think having children is a very big
responsibility. Lots of kids nowadays
think that having a baby will help a
marriage or make you more qrownup.
1t isnc't so. A child needs La stable
home life and lots and 1ots.01 attention
You have to give up alot of 'your.ow~
life -- but they're worth it .I1'
Teenage Motherhood: Social and
Economic Consequences was published
last year by - The Urban Institute, WashinRton,
D.C. Authors Moore et a1 based'
their report on a massive research study
funded by the Center for Population Research,
National Institutes of Health,
U. S. Department of Health, Education,
and Welfare. Results of this research
showed the tremendous impact of early
childbearing on education, family size,
earnings, and welfare dependency .-
After
carefully revie::~ing the re-
search, the authors made the foilowinc~ .-J
recommendations concernin: the specj a1
help young mothers need in order to
continue their education:
.The loss of education associated with a .birth
durin the high school years has important and
long-!asting consequences. Women with less
education have larger families, experience more
frequent marital instability, work less, are
employed at lower paying jobs, are more likely
to experience poverty, and have a higher probability
of requiring public assistance tha'n
their better-educated peers. This suggests
the importance of programs that enable teenage
mothers to continue their schooling. ..
Special programs in the schools are needed to
assist and encourage teenage mothers. to remain
in school. Infant day care is a crltical requirement
for these young mothers. Special
counseling may be necessary to help mothers
cope with the multiple demands on their time
and energy. Technical or vocational trainin
mi ht prove useful for young wo en confronte
wi 9 h the need to support a child. !'
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