The Effect of Adolescent Pregnancy on Transition Outcomes for Girls-By Uzoma Pamela

Every day in developing countries, about 20,000 girls under age 18 give birth, this amounts to 7.3
million births a year1
. Pregnancy can have immediate and lasting consequences for a girl’s health,
education, and income-earning potential as it often alters the course of her entire life. When a girl
overcomes early motherhood, it is assumed that she is empowered socially to stay in school, and then
economically to secure a more lucrative job or pursue other income-earning opportunities, according
to a World Bank study.
2 This article discusses some of the sociological factors that leads to teenage
pregnancy, the effects drawing insights from the World Development Report (2007) and the possible
ways we can move forward from this wicked problem.