Teen Parenting & Their Parenting Issues

Household Issues

• Most teenagers live with their parents, so when the "child has a child," new relationship issues can develop between the young person and his or her parents. If the teen parents aren't married or able to move out on their own, a decision is needed on where everyone will live and the baby will grow up. This ultimately affects daily care, babysitting and the freedom to parent. The North Carolina Division of Social Services claims that when a teen's mother takes over the parenting, the young woman's sense of herself as a parent can be undermined. One solution is for the teen parent to move in with grandparents who can offer family support with less parenting tension.

  Another household issue is if the teen parents will marry, continue in a relationship together or separate. Boyfriends may not feel an obligation to stay around; if they do, the mother may not regard him to be the best father figure. Some couples will take the step of marriage prematurely, while others may never truly own the responsibility of working together to parent the child.

Financial Issues

• Teen parents deal with the difficult challenge of parenting at an early age without sufficient income. According to The Birds And Bees Project, the total minimum cost for caring for a baby during its first year is $26,965. These expense are one reason they claim that more teen mothers will live in poverty than women who have children later in life, and why over 75% of unmarried teen mothers utilize welfare programs within five years of the birth of their first child.

  Every state has its own rules regarding child support and welfare assistance, but most families on a poverty level are universally eligible to use Medicaid insurance for their children or household. A local Health Department can also offer free or discounted medical services that provide care for the child, and programs like WIC and food stamps can also provide for basic food needs.

  Most teen parents will have to find some source of income to pay for bills that government assistance does not meet. This will require a balance between the job, school and home responsibilities that can become overwhelming for the teen. Otherwise the burden may fall to their own parents, creating even more issues within the extended family.

Social Issues

• Being a teen parent can create social tension as others in a community evaluate or judge the circumstances the child is being raised in. Many people may struggle with this from a religious or moral perspective, while others consider the psychological and sociological implications of the newborn's upbringing. The teen parent may react to all of this defensively, causing him or her to miss out on perspective or relationships that can ultimately offer support beyond an initial comment.

  Another problem that a teen parent has to face is a decreased ability to have a social life outside of the home. Extracurricular activities that once occupied a large amount of time may have to be dropped or suspended indefinitely, and weekend fun with friends will become limited. The resentment this can form in teen parents may come out in negative ways toward their child.

Educational Issues

• Caring for a baby and trying to get an education can be stressful on any teen. Communities often offer programs that support getting a high school degree, GED or college diploma. The cost of continuing education is another factor that the teen may now be unprepared to face. Since a degree is often required for a well-paying job, young people will feel an increased pressure to graduate, while maintaining the tension of daily parenting.

Maturity Issues

• According to a study by the National Institutes of Health, the human brain is not fully formed until 25 years old, including a region that inhibits reckless behavior. This may be one reason why teen parents struggle with giving up freedoms that parenting children will constrict, such as sleeping in late or keeping a random schedule. The maturity required to care for a restless newborn or frustrated toddler may not be inherent, but it must be learned in order to make the kind of selfless decisions parenting requires.