Pregnancy and Childbearing Among Young Adults Who Experienced Foster Care

Child Maltreatment, 2016

Katie Massey Combs, Stephanie Begun, Deborah J. Rinehart, Heather Taussig

Suggested Citation
Combs, K. M. (2017). Pregnancy and Childbearing Among Young Adults Who Experienced Foster Care. Child Maltreatment, 23 (2), 166 – 174. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077559517733816

Abstract
By age 21, 49% of the young women became pregnant, and 33% of young men reported getting someone pregnant. Over a quarter of participants experienced parenthood, which was associated with lower educational attainment, less employment, not having a checking or savings account, and a history of homelessness. Gender moderated the association between parenthood and employment such that males who were parents were more likely than female parents to be employed. Given that these young adults were at risk of early pregnancy and parenthood regardless of emancipation status and across several racial/ethnic groups, the results suggest a need for early pregnancy prevention efforts for all youth with child welfare involvement as well as improving resources and support for those who become young parents.