Ellie Polleux

Period 3
Mr.Gilbert
Social Justice
The Age that Women Give Birth and the Impacts

Women have been dealing with unwanted and unessicary burdens since society has

existed due to many different forms of discrimination. Now, many laws are even threatening a

womens right to choose whether or not she can have an abortion and other facilities. This can

amplify a huge issue women are facing; early motherhood. The age in which women have

children greatly impacts their future and their ability to be financially stable and lead a happy,

successful life. It is very sad and quite frankly upsetting that solely because a woman has a child

the rest of their life disappears.

First of all, due to recent studies have found that women have children at younger ages in

lower income areas versus wealthier areas women tend to have babies older. Yet the impacts are

of having children younger immensely affect women's lives due to the fact that they don't have

financial, emotional, or job stability. Unfortunately, due to new laws and regulations many

women are left with very scarce decisions and harsh consequences. Some include needing to

drop out of school, work multiple minimum wage jobs, face mental health issues, and other quite

unfulfilling and toilsome necessities required to take care of a child without or with very little

stability. The age gap is becoming even more prominent, in the U.S. the average age has become

21 opposed to other first world countries are about 31. It is not only impacting the women in the

situation, but the economy of America. Households with one woman taking care of children,

they automatically become one of the lowest median sources of income. This is crucial because

since more and more people are fitting into this category, more jobs, cheaper houses, and
accessible schools. Lastly, many women don't take into account the cost of childcare, medical

care, and so many other money issues relating to having kids. To sum up, many financial and

socio-economic issues are placed on teen moms and younger moms in general compared to older

mothers.

On the other hand, young mothers face another compelling obstacle; mental illness. For

example by the time the mother is pregnant, especially when unplanned, the risk of postpartum

depression increases by at least 11%. Then once the baby is a year old, they have the risk of long

term depression due to experiencing all this at a young age with a brain that hasn't finished

developing. Also if parents don't approve of them, the rates of anxiety and depression skyrocket,

while their mental health plummets which is extremely hard to build back up. Not only do mood

disorders make parenting much harsher, they can spiral into more difficult problems to

overcome.

To conclude, younger mothers and especially ones in low income areas face many

financial, mental, and emotional barriers. Though being a mother is a job that isn't easy for

anyone, no matter what status, it can be especially strenuous for less affluent people. In addition,

I believe some solutions that could benefit young mothers and even singles mothers in general

are more affordable childcare, flexible schedules, and cheaper expenses for necessities that are

simply too expensive such as housing and other crucial things. As well as other things like,

groups to talk with, accessible therapy, and other coping things to remind them they are not alone

and that people are empathetic towards them because they have experienced it. To sum up,

younger moms face many burdens on a lot of levels, but there are solutions to help them reach

their full potential or get out of situations if needed.

http://marripedia.org/effects.of.single.parents.on.financial.stability

https://thinkprogress.org/how-unintended-pregnancy-impacts-a-womans-mental-health-ed04b32

e056a/

https://americanpregnancy.org/unplanned-pregnancy/teen-pregnancy-issues-challenges/

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/04/upshot/up-birth-age-gap.html

https://prezi.com/ps8rwbxltyum/financial-problems-faced-by-teen-mothers/

https://www.seleni.org/advice-support/2018/3/14/the-mental-health-of-teen-moms-matters