Why are there so many pregnant teens/teen mothers in Manassas? (Arlington: townhouse, school)

[Mahatma X]

Manassas has had a reputation for having lots of pregnant girls for some time now. Wifey went to Osbourn Park and between that school and Stonewall Jackson... smh. Many of you may not be aware but whenever I'm in NoVa, mostly southern Fairfax co and Prince William co all the young people talk about it either parties in Manassas or the amount of preggo girls out there.

[spencgr]

Is there actually data to support this or is it just talk?

[Jon_In_NOVA]

Another useless stereotypical "I heard" thread.

Check this out:
"I heard people in Loundon County have a reputation for being snudy even though they paid half a mil for a 1300sq ft townhouse."

See what I did there?

[Forehead]

Originally Posted by Jon_In_NOVA

See what I did there?

You didn't spell "snooty" properly?

[michgc]

Hmm...I got curious so I looked it up. Found these statistics by districts. Prince William district does have a higher teen pregnancy rate than Fairfax, Loudoun or Arlington. But Alexandria City and some other parts of the state are even higher.

http://www.vdh.state.va.us/HealthSta...nPregMap10.pdf

[michgc]

Here is some more specific and more recent data from 2011. Per 1000 teens (ages 10-19)

Cities:
Manassas City: 52.3 pregnancies
City of Fredericksburg: 37.5
Falls Church City: 37.2
City of Alexandria: 33.4
City of Winchester: 29.3
Fairfax City: 27.1
Manassas Park City: 3.8

Counties:
Prince William County: 15.4 pregnancies
Fauquier County: 14.1
Spotsylvania County: 13.9
Stafford County: 12.0
Arlington County: 10.6
Fairfax County: 8.6
Loudoun County: 6.1

Source: Virginia Department of Health

Statistical Reports and Tables

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by michgc

Here is some more specific and more recent data from 2011. Per 1000 teens (ages 10-19)

hmm..I don't specifically like that age range. While I feel 18-19 is young to have a child, it's not what I consider "teenage pregnancy", because that person could be married and intentially starting their family. And (I believe, but am not positive) lower income groups tend to get married much earlier, so this would support higher pregnancy rates in lower income areas if it includes 18 and 19 year olds. I'd like to see the stats that didn't include those ages.

[michgc]

Originally Posted by spencgr

hmm..I don't specifically like that age range. While I feel 18-19 is young to have a child, it's not what I consider "teenage pregnancy", because that person could be married and intentially starting their family. And (I believe, but am not positive) lower income groups tend to get married much earlier, so this would support higher pregnancy rates in lower income areas if it includes 18 and 19 year olds. I'd like to see the stats that didn't include those ages.

I somewhat agree that some of them are likely young marriages and a pregnancy by a 13 year old is a lot different than a pregnancy by a 19-year old. The data is broken out by under 15, 15-17 and 18-19, if you want to look.

[CAVA1990]

Well it's a lot lower than it used to be. I imagine the less restrictive access to Plan B, assuming it's well socialized, will reduce it even further.

[tysonsengineer]

Can we just ignore him people? Don't feed the troll, he's clearly just trying to be a nuisance.