Making Teen Pregnancy Great Again: Why Teen Pregnancy is Necessary to Save America

Simone and Malcolm as they discuss the controversial topic of teen pregnancy. They delve into the historical context of youth adulthood, declining teen pregnancy rates, and examples from media that have influenced public perception. They explore how extended adolescence may be contributing to modern youth struggles, teen depression, and argue the potential benefits of teen pregnancy in fostering responsibility and maturity. They also critique global approaches, such as Russia's cash incentives for pregnant students, and propose a vision for integrating parenthood with education to create a more supportive society for young parents.

Simone Collins: Hello, Malcolm. I'm so excited to be speaking with you today because today we are trying to make teen pregnancy great again.

Speaker 3: My name is Victoria and I'm 15 years old, and I don't care what my mama says. I'm gonna have a baby. I'll do whatever it takes to take care of my baby. If it has to come out prostitute in my body, then so be it.

Simone Collins: It is a truth universally acknowledged that demographic collapse is in part a product of a drop in teen pregnancy, which most people hail is a big good development. For example. So I, I need to,

Malcolm Collins: I need to make a few notes here for people who don't know.

In the United States, if you divide women out by age ranges in, in, you don't know us is going through a major fertility crash right now.

Every age range of women is having the same or higher fertility rate than they have historically. Mm-hmm. Except for women under 24. Yeah. From 1990 to

Simone Collins: 2023, teen pregnancy dropped 78% in the USA. So the teen birth rate in 2023 was 13.1 per 1000. Teens,

Malcolm Collins: and this isn't just in the us Latin American demographers have said the majority of the crash in fertility rate in Latin America is coming from women.

I think it was under 21. Yeah. And it's,

Simone Collins: it's, and, and everywhere it's going down and, and even still in the US just like, just from 2007 to 2023. So this is, you know, in all of our recent memory, we're seeing about six to 8% year annual declines per year for teens. So, I mean, you would've thought that maybe in the nineties this would've already completely crashed.

The crash is continuing. It is, it is absolutely still happening. So teen pregnancy is out and most celebrate this as, as a huge win. But, well, what if it's not? So, you know, I think a lot of this, it might just be a product of our extended infantilization of youth, which by the way, is not working well for youth today in 20 23, 20 to 22% of high school students overall seriously considered.

Prematurely terminating their existence with about 9.5% reported actually attempting, said termination on any given year. Yeah.

Malcolm Collins: And so what we're gonna be arguing here throughout this piece is, is teen pregnancy isn't actually that bad and we need to go back to a society which enables and supports teen pregnancy,

Simone Collins: which in turn accelerates adulthood.

And, you know, maybe getting out of youth. These days, it's kind of a get, get the hell outta dodge situation. You know, like people, oh, this robs you of your child. Look at childhood right now. Right. And, and keep in mind, like female students specifically report much higher rates of, of all this misery. Like, you know, this is this, you know, and, and women are the ones who are.

You know, going through the process of pregnancy. So also we, we should point out that delayed pregnancy leads to more health risks for both mothers and babies. But here's the thing, this is also very timely and, and, and newly in terms of people who are looking at prenatal list initiatives because in Russia, for example, cash payments are being issued to pregnant women, actively enrolled as students.

Who reach a certain age of gestation and all of these news outlets I get, I get all the prenatal list news alerts and like half of them for like the past month have been Putin gives out cash bonuses to pregnant schoolbus. Like, you know, there's, he's, you know, it's a whole thing, but let's explore.

Howe Pregnancy got demonized in the first place, and

Malcolm Collins: this was an active campaign to make you think that you are. Low life trash. If you get pregnant while you're a teen. Yeah. That you're ruining your kid's life. That you're ruining your life. Mm-hmm. And I note here,

Simone Collins: well, and that is trashy. That's the biggest thing.

Malcolm no one really cares about how ruined or not ruined your life is. They care about how aspirational or trashy something is. Let's be honest. No, it's true.

Malcolm Collins: But, but I, I will note here. Teen pregnancy works when it is full expectation that the parents are going to help raise the kids. IE your parents are going to help raise your kids.

Yeah. And my kids will be raised fully with that knowledge. Yeah. If they get pregnant when they're teenagers, we will help with as much of the work that we can in terms of child rearing to make it easy for them to transition into that phase of

Simone Collins: their life. I'm super excited to be a grandmother. Oh yeah, yeah.

No, we'll be

Malcolm Collins: pushing them. Like, especially if your kid no longer have kids at that age when our first kids are. Yeah. Because I realized

Simone Collins: if, if we have the number of kids we wanna have, I'm gonna be pregnant at age 50. I'm like, I don't know. Like, just in terms of the, the likelihood of me making it to that I want to yeah, but you know, we have to be realistic.

So increasingly, like grandchildren, I, I, I have a spreadsheet that like tells me what, what age our kids will be at different years. And I'm like, well, let's see, probably by this year. I can start reasonably pushing your grandchildren. I have to figure out marriage first. Have a plan. My, my dad had

Malcolm Collins: me when he was 42, so we'll be at kid number, what is it, six or seven when I'm that age?

Simone Collins: Hold on, I have a spreadsheet

Malcolm Collins: because we're, you're pregnant with number five now? Yeah. So where, where am I gonna be?

Simone Collins: Let's see. So, we will have what child number, what?

Malcolm Collins: When I'm 42, the age. Oh, when you're

Simone Collins: 42. That's 2031. Is when I would have our eighth child if we keep to our schedule.

Malcolm Collins: Okay.

Simone Collins: So, and this is assuming,

Malcolm Collins: and that's when I'd be completing the full round of kids that I intended to have.

Eight was, no, you wanted seven.

Simone Collins: Seven was your original, like Yeah,

Malcolm Collins: but eight. And that would be when you're 42.

Simone Collins: Oh yeah. So Oh gosh. Yeah. When we, when we would be doing yeah, when you would be 42 when we had, would have. Seventh child. And your dad was only, although your dad had a daughter from a previous marriage, so there was that.

Malcolm Collins: Yeah. And then he had one more kid after me.

Simone Collins: Yeah,

Malcolm Collins: yeah. No,

Simone Collins: yeah. People are getting started later and you know, again, it's super feasible. But anyway by the way, just wanna say thanks to, to Megan for suggesting this ep