A Prolific Problem - Part III: The Consequences
By Anne Marie Kyzer Staff Writer

Gaila Walker cuddles with her 8-week-old daughter, Jamireana, after school.

(Editor's note: The Consequences is the third story in a three-part series in which staff writer Anne Marie Kyzer examines the growing rate of births to teenagers and unmarried mothers in Burke County.)

Gaila Walker hops off the school bus at the end of her grandmother's drive and walks to the house for the best part of her day. She puts her school books down and picks up her 8-week-old daughter Jamireana. Gaila cradles her little one in her arms and then settles in to nurse her.

Nighttime feedings and dirty diapers take the place of going out with friends and extracurricular activities these days for 17-year-old Gaila.

She gave birth just a week after the school year started and returned to class two weeks later. She didn't want to get behind, especially not after spending the summer in school to catch up on a couple of missed credits. She has too much at stake now, and she knows it.

"If anything, this was a reason to stay in school," Gaila says, touching her nose to Jamireana's and smiling. "I can't afford to just quit now."

Gaila, like many teens in Burke County, has someone depending on her.

For teen mothers, life will never be the same. Ready or not, they must take care of a family. More often than not, these young women will bear the brunt of child rearing more so than the fathers of their children.

Jamireana's father is already out of the picture, Gaila says.

Some eight out of 10 fathers of children born to teen mothers don't marry the mothers, and they pay less than $800 annually in child support, according to research by Rebecca A. Maynard, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Finishing school, earning a living, arranging child care and caring for a baby poses adult challenges for girls who were most concerned with passing math or making a sports team just a few months before.

Unfortunately for many, the struggle only worsens.

Two-thirds of the families begun by young, unmarried mothers are poor, according to data from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

Nearly half of all female-run households in Burke County with no husband present live below the poverty level, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from Census 2000.

Maynard's research links startling statistics for several other social issues to teen child bearing, as well.

Children of teen parents are 50 percent more likely to repeat a grade and are less likely to complete high school than those born to older parents.

Those children also suffer higher rates of abuse and neglect, and the sons of teenage mothers are 13 percent more likely to end up in prison. The daughters of teen parents are 22 percent more likely to become teen mothers.

But teen parents and their children aren't the only ones who pay for teen child bearing.

$344 million.

That's the public price tag for teen pregnancy in Georgia at last count, according to 2004 data from the National Campaign to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy.

Most of those costs stem from the negative consequences for the children of teen parents, such as public health care, child welfare, incarceration and lost tax revenue.

A study published by Child Trends, Inc. revealed that more than half of all mothers on public assistance had their first child as a teenager.

Waynesboro obstetrician Dr. Mark Gresham estimated that probably nine out of 10 unmarried or teen mothers he sees are on public assistance. Others, he says, are covered by their parents' insurance.

Despite massive savings in Georgia in recent years, thanks to welfare reform and a decline in the statewide teen pregnancy rate, the rate of births to teens and unwed mothers continues to increase in Burke County.

DADS OFF DUTY "I thought he was the one, and

we were going to be together

forever. But he wasn't ready to

be a father. He used to call, but

now he never calls. He said he

forgets ... "

- Burke County mother who became pregnant at age 17

• Some 850,000 teen girls become pregnant each year, and most end up raising their children without much help from the child's father.

• Eight out of 10 teenage fathers do not marry the mother of their child.

• Absent fathers of teen mothers pay less than $16 per week for child support.

• Boys and girls without involved fathers are twice as likely to drop out of school, twice as likely to abuse alcohol or drugs, twice as likely to end up in jail and nearly four times more likely to need help for emotional or behavioral problems.

Source: National Campaign

to prevent Teenage Pregnancy