Teenage Pregnancies: Are They Becoming a Lifestyle Choice?

The UK has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Europe. Although this is what most parents would want least for their children, it seems to be something that is affecting more and more people every day.

One of the main problems in this country is that people get rewarded financially for having children. The current economic climate is tough, and having children means that people are able to get a house paid for, along with more money to help them live. It would not be enough to live a great life, but would be enough to see them through, and they would certainly get more than they would if they just got a low paying job. Another issue is the education system. It is getting to the stage where young people just can’t do anything unless they have been to University and gained a degree. There are a lot of people who are either not clever enough to be able to do this or just can’t afford to go, meaning that they have very few options. A lot of jobs require candidates with degrees now, when this was never the case in the past, and this is meaning that a lot of the people who would have filled the jobs in the past are no longer able to get them. Currently, when a young person leaves school at the age of 16, there is nothing for them to do unless they go on to further education. This means that having a child is often the only financially viable option for them and they choose to have one or more childen just to mean that they are able to have a roof over their heads.

Education about contraception is missing from a lot of schools at the moment. I know that in the school I went to, you were only taught about such things from the age of 16, and this is far too late for a lot of people. I know that girls are having sex at younger ages all of the time, so I think that they should be taught things about it right from the moment they’re old enough to understand. At the end of the day, reproduction is not something that they should be hidden from, because it is how we all got here and it is just something that is natural to want to do with another person.

Although you’re not legally allowed to consent to intercourse under the age of 16, there is nothing done about it when it happens. If it is against the law, then technically there should be some kind of legal comeback if they are ever found out. I am not saying that they should be imprisoned, but the law is there for a reason and if nothing can be done when people break it then there is very little point in the law being there in the first place. There should be a hefty fine, or community service, for anybody found to be breaking that law, as this might discourage young people from doing it if they see that it is wrong.