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The report presents a descriptive overview of teenage childbearing based on data from the Demographic and Health Surveys in Brazil. Colombia and Peru as well as information from the Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Mexico and Trinidad and Tobago with comparisons to the US and Canada. Chapters include topics on education employment marriage consensual norms and sexual activity childbearing and consequences of teenage childbearing. In general adolescents aged 10-19 have higher employment levels in urban areas. As many as 50% of all women have married or started a sexual relationship before age 20 and sexual relationships before age 20 are more common in rural areas. Better education is related to a lower likelihood of having had a sexual relationship before age 20. Knowledge of contraception varies widely but most have knowledge of oral contraceptives. Contraception is higher in urban areas and in people with some secondary schooling. Guatemala and Peru have the greatest number of married women 15-19 not using contraceptives and not desiring a child soon. Rural fertility rates are higher than urban. The proportion of women with children before age 20 is similar among Latin American and Caribbean countries. Many teen pregnancies particularly in the US are unplanned and unwanted.
Singh et al. (Wed,) studied this question.