Problems Encountered in Teenage Marriages

Education

• Many teenagers drop out of school once they are married or pregnant. Teenage married girls may adopt a mindset that their husband is now the breadwinner, which may cause more pressure for him. In addition, the responsibility of maintaining a long-lasting, stable and intimate relationship may cause emotional and mental problems for teenage spouses. Arguments, tension and a lack of trust can easily interrupt the academic life of teenage spouses and make it hard to study for classes. This may have a negative effect toward attendance rates and academic performance, which can lead to a lower chance to getting into a good college or dropping out of school altogether.

Financial Support

• One of the greatest problems of teenage marriages is not having enough money to support the family. If a teenage couple plans to move out early, it will be very difficult to earn enough money to support themselves because they have to juggle work and school. In addition, many teenage marriages result in unplanned pregnancy. If the girl is pregnant and has a baby, she may decide to stop going to school to take care of it. This choice will mostly likely cause the teen dad to quit school and get a low-paying job to support the family. With the lack of financial support, they teenage parents may find themselves in a situation where they have constant issues and arguments over money, which causes an unhealthy atmosphere for the child growing up.

Divorce

• Another problem for young married people is higher divorce rates. Even though at the time, teenagers may feel as if they are prepared to carry on marriage for the rest of their lives, the truth is that feeling and experiencing are two different things. Studies have shown that teenage marriages are more likely to end in divorce, compared to people that are 25 years of age or older. An article called, "The Fading Attraction of Teenage Marriage" in NYTimes.com quoted that, "The most comprehensive study on marriage and age that sociologists cite was published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2001, from 1995 data, and it found that 48 percent of those who marry before 18 are likely to divorce within 10 years, compared with 24 percent of those who marry after 25." This shows that younger people, especially teenagers, may not have developed mentally and emotionally to think and operate at more mature levels compared to older and more experienced people, who would be better prepared for taking on the heavy responsibilities of marriage.