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To provide background information regarding the outcomes of pregnancy for the Puerto Rican students in our schools.
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To enhance teachers’ awareness and understanding of the home life of the Puerto Rican young mother and her family.
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To examine interventions which may help more Puerto Rican young parents remain in the system until educational goals have been realized.
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To explore available formal and informal family and community networks for Puerto Rican young women.
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To provide lessons to supplement material on teenage pregnancy for use in Grade 9 Urban Studies classes and Grade 12 Psychology and Sociology classes.
Angel Luis Martinez introduces his paper, “The Impact of Adolescent Pregnancy on Hispanic Adolescents and Their Families”, with a general discussion about Hispanics, and about Hispanic adolescents in particular. Some highlights of the data included in his introduction are:
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12 million persons of Spanish origin are living in the United States—7,200,000 are Mexican
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1,800,000 are Puerto Rican
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700,000 are Cuban
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2,400,000 “other” Hispanics
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The estimate of all Hispanics, including undocumented, is 19 million.
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Families headed by Hispanic women are twice as likely to have incomes below the poverty level.
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Hispanic women are less likely to participate in the labor force.
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Hispanics account for 5% of the total population, 4% of the civilian labor force, and 6% of the unemployed.
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Hispanic adolescents represent 24% of this population (compared with 20.3% adolescent population for the general population.
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Almost one half of Hispanics are under the age of 18.
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One out of 3 lives at or below poverty levels.
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About half live in the inner cities of America.
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About half have completed High School.
By the mid-80’s, it is expected that Hispanics will represent the largest minority population in the United States, with adolescents representing a higher proportion of the population than adolescents in other white and non-white groups. The median age for Hispanics is 20.5 years, as compared to 28 for the overall population. The percentage of youth under 18 within the Hispanic population is 44.2%, compared to 42.3% of the Black population, and 33.2% of white. The implications are that the Hispanic youth population will continue to increase over the next decade and will account for a larger percentage of adolescent problems (unemployment, early childbearing) generally.
The major sources of data on adolescent problems, and specifically on adolescent pregnancy and childbearing, do not separate Hispanics. This is true in the Guttmacher Institute reports on teenage pregnancy nationwide and the City of New Haven, Department of Health 1981 Birth and Death Crosstabulation Report. Hispanics are included in the term, white and other; the term, non-white, refers to Blacks (which may include some persons of Hispanic heritage), American Indians and Orientals.
And, as Martinez points out, and my research confirms, there are no research reports on Hispanic adolescent fertility in the United States. To date, the information available about Hispanic teens and pregnancy is derived from small sample studies in urban neighborhoods (ie. data from the Hill Health Center here in New Haven). These reports provide some statistical information and samples of clinical observations from which we can begin to develop programs and policies to meet the needs of Hispanic adolescents and their families.
