CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
The conventional wisdom has it that an epidemic of single motherhood is today ruining the lives of many women and their children as it perpetuates teen pregnancy all over the world (Kristin, 1991). In polite circles, people speak regretfully of “babies have babies” due to teenage pregnancy. Many people talk of teenage pregnancy as if there were an implicit social contract in society (Kristin, 1991).
Globally, teenage pregnancy has long been a troubling issue. The United States has the highest rates of teenage pregnancy and teen births in the Western Industrialized World. The teenage birth rate in United States was 53 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19 in 2002 (UNFPA, 2003), the highest in the developed world (UNICEF, 2001). Approximately one million teenagers become pregnant each year in the United States, accounting for 13% of all U.S. births. There are 78 teen mothers per 1,000 births in Mexico (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2004). Approximately, 7.7% of females per annum who have given birth were unmarried teenagers (US, Census Bureau, 2009).
In Australia, approximately one in four children live with one of their biological parents, the vast majority of whom are teenage single women. The results reflect a breakdown in marital relationships, and an increase in teenage pregnancy (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008). It has been projected that one-parent families will increase in Australia to between 30% and 60% over a 25 years period (Condon, 2007). From 2004 to 2006 in Australia, there were on average, 486,000 teenage parents with children 5 years which constitute approximately 22% of all families with children of that age (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2008).
The situation is not different in Africa. In Nigeria, available reports indicate that teenagers who get pregnant are an evolving phenomenon (Salami and Alawode, 2010; Nwachukwu, 1998). Parents face various challenges which make it difficult for them to meet the basic needs of their teenage daughters who easily become pregnant (Uchendi, 1996; and Mayer 2009).
A high rate of teenage pregnancy, those without partners was observed during a previous research project at Koforidua, the eastern regional capital in the summer of 1994. In two successive visits to a prenatal clinic, it was observed that
