Abstinence Pledges Curtail Teen Out-of-Wedlock Births
by AFA Journal
June 10, 2004
(AgapePress) - A new report released by the Heritage Foundation reveals that efforts recommending abstinence to teens can pay off in reducing out-of-wedlock births.The report, which was based on data gathered by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, found that "[y]oung women who take a virginity pledge are about 40% less likely to have a child out of wedlock when compared to similar young women who do not make such a pledge."
Kirk A. Johnson, senior policy analyst in the Center for Data Analysis, wrote in the Heritage report that the finding "strongly suggests the potential for abstinence education programs to reduce teen pregnancy and out-of-wedlock childbearing."
The benefits of reducing such outcomes of early teen sexual experimentation are more than just theoretical. The report noted that children raised by single parents are "seven times more likely to live in poverty than are children raised in intact homes."
The Heritage Foundation study considered other factors such as the girls' family status, religiosity, income, race, etc., and still determined that "the virginity pledge itself was found to have a strong independent effect in predicting lower levels of out-of-wedlock childbearing."
This article appeared in the June 2004 issue of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association.
