Poverty levels

Teen pregnancy levels are also strongly linked to poverty, with low income teens more likely to get pregnant. About 52 percent of all mothers on welfare had their first child as a teenager, according to the group Fact Forward. Although there are many factors involved, the lack of education and healthcare are often considered to be the biggest reasons for the relationship between poverty and teen pregnancy. 

“Teens are more likely to get pregnant if they are on the poverty line because they do not have money to buy things such as condoms or be put on birth control,” Sabih said. 

Additionally, pregnant teens are more likely to drop out of school and accept a low paying job to support their baby, possibly putting them in danger of poverty in the future. 

“If one isn’t inspired to push themself further along in college or career path, for example, due to a lack of resources such as money, they can be more compelled to or be more fulfilled by having children early on,” Chersey said. 

In 2017, teen births were four times the national average in some Dallas ZIP codes, according to the Dallas Morning News. This contributed to the city’s 38 percent childhood poverty rate at the time, which was the highest rate of any city with more than 1 million residents.

“We have to look at poverty as a generational issue,” former Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings told KERA News. “So if we want to deal with it in the next generation, we’ve got to stop babies having babies, and so that’s why it’s important to the city strategically.”