Educating "our girls" and "welfare mothers": Discussions of education policy for pregnant and parenting adolescents in federal hearings, 1975-1995

Journal of Family History

Volumn 22, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 326-353

  Mittelstadt, Jennifer ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0031185095     PISSN: 03631990     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/036319909702200304     Document Type: Article

References (105)

1. For example, see Maris Vinovskis and Diane Ravitch, eds., Learning from the Past: What History Teaches Us about School Reform (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995) for examples of the lack of effective research on which to base educational reform, and on the lack of institutional memory of school reform.
2. It is clear that, ironically, policymakers never viewed the high risk for dropping out of school among teen mothers as primarily an educational issue. Federal education hearings and legislation did not, in fact, address high-school-age children to any significant degree until 1994.
3. The issue of teenage pregnancy has generated a great deal of scholarly research, but little of it is historical. For work on current issues of single motherhood and adolescent pregnancy see, for example, a useful and diverse collection of essays in Annette Lawson and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993); see also Constance Nathanson, Dangerous Passage (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991); and Kristin Luker, Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996). In the historical vein, there is interesting research into the changing historical context of single motherhood, but not teen pregnancy per se. For a history of unwed mothers in the pre-World War II era, see Regina Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls: Unmarried Mothers and the Professionalization of Social Work (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991); for a more recent history of the treatment of unwed mothers, see Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Motherhood and Race before Roe v Wade (New York: Routledge, 1993). See also Linda Gordon's work on single motherhood and welfare in the progressive era, Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York: Free Press, 1994); the exception to this is an account of the history of teenage childbearing and public policy that focuses primarily on the 1970s and early 1980s - Maris Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? (London: Oxford University Press, 1988). Also in the historical vein are studies of the gendered origins of twentieth-century American social policy. Although they address issues of single motherhood and reproduction, they do not examine either teenage pregnancy or education as an important site for social policy relating to gender. See, for example, Linda Gordon's collection of essays on social welfare policies, Women, the State, and Welfare (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990), which contains a range of essays by a range of scholars that explore gender and welfare both in the past and today. See also Theda Skocpol's history, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992). Histories of education, even studies of school-leaving, or dropping out, pay scant attention to the issue of teenage pregnancy. See, for example, the recent work by Sherman Dorn, Creating the Dropout: An Institutional and Social History of School Failure (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996). Pursuing the subjects of teen pregnancy, single motherhood, social policy, and education separately, we miss the crucial connections between cultural perceptions of problems, institutions, and politically generated social policy. This article provides the opportunity to bridge gaps between these various topics and fields of scholarship.
4. The issue of teenage pregnancy has generated a great deal of scholarly research, but little of it is historical. For work on current issues of single motherhood and adolescent pregnancy see, for example, a useful and diverse collection of essays in Annette Lawson and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993); see also Constance Nathanson, Dangerous Passage (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991); and Kristin Luker, Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996). In the historical vein, there is interesting research into the changing historical context of single motherhood, but not teen pregnancy per se. For a history of unwed mothers in the pre-World War II era, see Regina Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls: Unmarried Mothers and the Professionalization of Social Work (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991); for a more recent history of the treatment of unwed mothers, see Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Motherhood and Race before Roe v Wade (New York: Routledge, 1993). See also Linda Gordon's work on single motherhood and welfare in the progressive era, Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York: Free Press, 1994); the exception to this is an account of the history of teenage childbearing and public policy that focuses primarily on the 1970s and early 1980s - Maris Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? (London: Oxford University Press, 1988). Also in the historical vein are studies of the gendered origins of twentieth-century American social policy. Although they address issues of single motherhood and reproduction, they do not examine either teenage pregnancy or education as an important site for social policy relating to gender. See, for example, Linda Gordon's collection of essays on social welfare policies, Women, the State, and Welfare (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990), which contains a range of essays by a range of scholars that explore gender and welfare both in the past and today. See also Theda Skocpol's history, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992). Histories of education, even studies of school-leaving, or dropping out, pay scant attention to the issue of teenage pregnancy. See, for example, the recent work by Sherman Dorn, Creating the Dropout: An Institutional and Social History of School Failure (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996). Pursuing the subjects of teen pregnancy, single motherhood, social policy, and education separately, we miss the crucial connections between cultural perceptions of problems, institutions, and politically generated social policy. This article provides the opportunity to bridge gaps between these various topics and fields of scholarship.
5. The issue of teenage pregnancy has generated a great deal of scholarly research, but little of it is historical. For work on current issues of single motherhood and adolescent pregnancy see, for example, a useful and diverse collection of essays in Annette Lawson and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993); see also Constance Nathanson, Dangerous Passage (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991); and Kristin Luker, Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996). In the historical vein, there is interesting research into the changing historical context of single motherhood, but not teen pregnancy per se. For a history of unwed mothers in the pre-World War II era, see Regina Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls: Unmarried Mothers and the Professionalization of Social Work (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991); for a more recent history of the treatment of unwed mothers, see Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Motherhood and Race before Roe v Wade (New York: Routledge, 1993). See also Linda Gordon's work on single motherhood and welfare in the progressive era, Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York: Free Press, 1994); the exception to this is an account of the history of teenage childbearing and public policy that focuses primarily on the 1970s and early 1980s - Maris Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? (London: Oxford University Press, 1988). Also in the historical vein are studies of the gendered origins of twentieth-century American social policy. Although they address issues of single motherhood and reproduction, they do not examine either teenage pregnancy or education as an important site for social policy relating to gender. See, for example, Linda Gordon's collection of essays on social welfare policies, Women, the State, and Welfare (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990), which contains a range of essays by a range of scholars that explore gender and welfare both in the past and today. See also Theda Skocpol's history, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992). Histories of education, even studies of school-leaving, or dropping out, pay scant attention to the issue of teenage pregnancy. See, for example, the recent work by Sherman Dorn, Creating the Dropout: An Institutional and Social History of School Failure (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996). Pursuing the subjects of teen pregnancy, single motherhood, social policy, and education separately, we miss the crucial connections between cultural perceptions of problems, institutions, and politically generated social policy. This article provides the opportunity to bridge gaps between these various topics and fields of scholarship.
6. The issue of teenage pregnancy has generated a great deal of scholarly research, but little of it is historical. For work on current issues of single motherhood and adolescent pregnancy see, for example, a useful and diverse collection of essays in Annette Lawson and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993); see also Constance Nathanson, Dangerous Passage (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991); and Kristin Luker, Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996). In the historical vein, there is interesting research into the changing historical context of single motherhood, but not teen pregnancy per se. For a history of unwed mothers in the pre-World War II era, see Regina Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls: Unmarried Mothers and the Professionalization of Social Work (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991); for a more recent history of the treatment of unwed mothers, see Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Motherhood and Race before Roe v Wade (New York: Routledge, 1993). See also Linda Gordon's work on single motherhood and welfare in the progressive era, Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York: Free Press, 1994); the exception to this is an account of the history of teenage childbearing and public policy that focuses primarily on the 1970s and early 1980s - Maris Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? (London: Oxford University Press, 1988). Also in the historical vein are studies of the gendered origins of twentieth-century American social policy. Although they address issues of single motherhood and reproduction, they do not examine either teenage pregnancy or education as an important site for social policy relating to gender. See, for example, Linda Gordon's collection of essays on social welfare policies, Women, the State, and Welfare (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990), which contains a range of essays by a range of scholars that explore gender and welfare both in the past and today. See also Theda Skocpol's history, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992). Histories of education, even studies of school-leaving, or dropping out, pay scant attention to the issue of teenage pregnancy. See, for example, the recent work by Sherman Dorn, Creating the Dropout: An Institutional and Social History of School Failure (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996). Pursuing the subjects of teen pregnancy, single motherhood, social policy, and education separately, we miss the crucial connections between cultural perceptions of problems, institutions, and politically generated social policy. This article provides the opportunity to bridge gaps between these various topics and fields of scholarship.
7. The issue of teenage pregnancy has generated a great deal of scholarly research, but little of it is historical. For work on current issues of single motherhood and adolescent pregnancy see, for example, a useful and diverse collection of essays in Annette Lawson and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993); see also Constance Nathanson, Dangerous Passage (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991); and Kristin Luker, Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996). In the historical vein, there is interesting research into the changing historical context of single motherhood, but not teen pregnancy per se. For a history of unwed mothers in the pre-World War II era, see Regina Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls: Unmarried Mothers and the Professionalization of Social Work (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991); for a more recent history of the treatment of unwed mothers, see Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Motherhood and Race before Roe v Wade (New York: Routledge, 1993). See also Linda Gordon's work on single motherhood and welfare in the progressive era, Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York: Free Press, 1994); the exception to this is an account of the history of teenage childbearing and public policy that focuses primarily on the 1970s and early 1980s - Maris Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? (London: Oxford University Press, 1988). Also in the historical vein are studies of the gendered origins of twentieth-century American social policy. Although they address issues of single motherhood and reproduction, they do not examine either teenage pregnancy or education as an important site for social policy relating to gender. See, for example, Linda Gordon's collection of essays on social welfare policies, Women, the State, and Welfare (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990), which contains a range of essays by a range of scholars that explore gender and welfare both in the past and today. See also Theda Skocpol's history, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992). Histories of education, even studies of school-leaving, or dropping out, pay scant attention to the issue of teenage pregnancy. See, for example, the recent work by Sherman Dorn, Creating the Dropout: An Institutional and Social History of School Failure (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996). Pursuing the subjects of teen pregnancy, single motherhood, social policy, and education separately, we miss the crucial connections between cultural perceptions of problems, institutions, and politically generated social policy. This article provides the opportunity to bridge gaps between these various topics and fields of scholarship.
8. The issue of teenage pregnancy has generated a great deal of scholarly research, but little of it is historical. For work on current issues of single motherhood and adolescent pregnancy see, for example, a useful and diverse collection of essays in Annette Lawson and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993); see also Constance Nathanson, Dangerous Passage (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991); and Kristin Luker, Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996). In the historical vein, there is interesting research into the changing historical context of single motherhood, but not teen pregnancy per se. For a history of unwed mothers in the pre-World War II era, see Regina Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls: Unmarried Mothers and the Professionalization of Social Work (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991); for a more recent history of the treatment of unwed mothers, see Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Motherhood and Race before Roe v Wade (New York: Routledge, 1993). See also Linda Gordon's work on single motherhood and welfare in the progressive era, Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York: Free Press, 1994); the exception to this is an account of the history of teenage childbearing and public policy that focuses primarily on the 1970s and early 1980s - Maris Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? (London: Oxford University Press, 1988). Also in the historical vein are studies of the gendered origins of twentieth-century American social policy. Although they address issues of single motherhood and reproduction, they do not examine either teenage pregnancy or education as an important site for social policy relating to gender. See, for example, Linda Gordon's collection of essays on social welfare policies, Women, the State, and Welfare (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990), which contains a range of essays by a range of scholars that explore gender and welfare both in the past and today. See also Theda Skocpol's history, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992). Histories of education, even studies of school-leaving, or dropping out, pay scant attention to the issue of teenage pregnancy. See, for example, the recent work by Sherman Dorn, Creating the Dropout: An Institutional and Social History of School Failure (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996). Pursuing the subjects of teen pregnancy, single motherhood, social policy, and education separately, we miss the crucial connections between cultural perceptions of problems, institutions, and politically generated social policy. This article provides the opportunity to bridge gaps between these various topics and fields of scholarship.
9. The issue of teenage pregnancy has generated a great deal of scholarly research, but little of it is historical. For work on current issues of single motherhood and adolescent pregnancy see, for example, a useful and diverse collection of essays in Annette Lawson and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993); see also Constance Nathanson, Dangerous Passage (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991); and Kristin Luker, Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996). In the historical vein, there is interesting research into the changing historical context of single motherhood, but not teen pregnancy per se. For a history of unwed mothers in the pre-World War II era, see Regina Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls: Unmarried Mothers and the Professionalization of Social Work (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991); for a more recent history of the treatment of unwed mothers, see Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Motherhood and Race before Roe v Wade (New York: Routledge, 1993). See also Linda Gordon's work on single motherhood and welfare in the progressive era, Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York: Free Press, 1994); the exception to this is an account of the history of teenage childbearing and public policy that focuses primarily on the 1970s and early 1980s - Maris Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? (London: Oxford University Press, 1988). Also in the historical vein are studies of the gendered origins of twentieth-century American social policy. Although they address issues of single motherhood and reproduction, they do not examine either teenage pregnancy or education as an important site for social policy relating to gender. See, for example, Linda Gordon's collection of essays on social welfare policies, Women, the State, and Welfare (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990), which contains a range of essays by a range of scholars that explore gender and welfare both in the past and today. See also Theda Skocpol's history, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992). Histories of education, even studies of school-leaving, or dropping out, pay scant attention to the issue of teenage pregnancy. See, for example, the recent work by Sherman Dorn, Creating the Dropout: An Institutional and Social History of School Failure (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996). Pursuing the subjects of teen pregnancy, single motherhood, social policy, and education separately, we miss the crucial connections between cultural perceptions of problems, institutions, and politically generated social policy. This article provides the opportunity to bridge gaps between these various topics and fields of scholarship.
10. The issue of teenage pregnancy has generated a great deal of scholarly research, but little of it is historical. For work on current issues of single motherhood and adolescent pregnancy see, for example, a useful and diverse collection of essays in Annette Lawson and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993); see also Constance Nathanson, Dangerous Passage (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991); and Kristin Luker, Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996). In the historical vein, there is interesting research into the changing historical context of single motherhood, but not teen pregnancy per se. For a history of unwed mothers in the pre-World War II era, see Regina Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls: Unmarried Mothers and the Professionalization of Social Work (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991); for a more recent history of the treatment of unwed mothers, see Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Motherhood and Race before Roe v Wade (New York: Routledge, 1993). See also Linda Gordon's work on single motherhood and welfare in the progressive era, Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York: Free Press, 1994); the exception to this is an account of the history of teenage childbearing and public policy that focuses primarily on the 1970s and early 1980s - Maris Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? (London: Oxford University Press, 1988). Also in the historical vein are studies of the gendered origins of twentieth-century American social policy. Although they address issues of single motherhood and reproduction, they do not examine either teenage pregnancy or education as an important site for social policy relating to gender. See, for example, Linda Gordon's collection of essays on social welfare policies, Women, the State, and Welfare (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990), which contains a range of essays by a range of scholars that explore gender and welfare both in the past and today. See also Theda Skocpol's history, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992). Histories of education, even studies of school-leaving, or dropping out, pay scant attention to the issue of teenage pregnancy. See, for example, the recent work by Sherman Dorn, Creating the Dropout: An Institutional and Social History of School Failure (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996). Pursuing the subjects of teen pregnancy, single motherhood, social policy, and education separately, we miss the crucial connections between cultural perceptions of problems, institutions, and politically generated social policy. This article provides the opportunity to bridge gaps between these various topics and fields of scholarship.
11. The issue of teenage pregnancy has generated a great deal of scholarly research, but little of it is historical. For work on current issues of single motherhood and adolescent pregnancy see, for example, a useful and diverse collection of essays in Annette Lawson and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993); see also Constance Nathanson, Dangerous Passage (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991); and Kristin Luker, Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996). In the historical vein, there is interesting research into the changing historical context of single motherhood, but not teen pregnancy per se. For a history of unwed mothers in the pre-World War II era, see Regina Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls: Unmarried Mothers and the Professionalization of Social Work (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991); for a more recent history of the treatment of unwed mothers, see Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Motherhood and Race before Roe v Wade (New York: Routledge, 1993). See also Linda Gordon's work on single motherhood and welfare in the progressive era, Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York: Free Press, 1994); the exception to this is an account of the history of teenage childbearing and public policy that focuses primarily on the 1970s and early 1980s - Maris Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? (London: Oxford University Press, 1988). Also in the historical vein are studies of the gendered origins of twentieth-century American social policy. Although they address issues of single motherhood and reproduction, they do not examine either teenage pregnancy or education as an important site for social policy relating to gender. See, for example, Linda Gordon's collection of essays on social welfare policies, Women, the State, and Welfare (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990), which contains a range of essays by a range of scholars that explore gender and welfare both in the past and today. See also Theda Skocpol's history, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992). Histories of education, even studies of school-leaving, or dropping out, pay scant attention to the issue of teenage pregnancy. See, for example, the recent work by Sherman Dorn, Creating the Dropout: An Institutional and Social History of School Failure (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996). Pursuing the subjects of teen pregnancy, single motherhood, social policy, and education separately, we miss the crucial connections between cultural perceptions of problems, institutions, and politically generated social policy. This article provides the opportunity to bridge gaps between these various topics and fields of scholarship.
12. The issue of teenage pregnancy has generated a great deal of scholarly research, but little of it is historical. For work on current issues of single motherhood and adolescent pregnancy see, for example, a useful and diverse collection of essays in Annette Lawson and Deborah L. Rhode, eds., The Politics of Pregnancy: Adolescent Sexuality and Public Policy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993); see also Constance Nathanson, Dangerous Passage (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991); and Kristin Luker, Dubious Conceptions: The Politics of Teenage Pregnancy (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996). In the historical vein, there is interesting research into the changing historical context of single motherhood, but not teen pregnancy per se. For a history of unwed mothers in the pre-World War II era, see Regina Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls: Unmarried Mothers and the Professionalization of Social Work (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991); for a more recent history of the treatment of unwed mothers, see Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie: Single Motherhood and Race before Roe v Wade (New York: Routledge, 1993). See also Linda Gordon's work on single motherhood and welfare in the progressive era, Pitied But Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York: Free Press, 1994); the exception to this is an account of the history of teenage childbearing and public policy that focuses primarily on the 1970s and early 1980s - Maris Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? (London: Oxford University Press, 1988). Also in the historical vein are studies of the gendered origins of twentieth-century American social policy. Although they address issues of single motherhood and reproduction, they do not examine either teenage pregnancy or education as an important site for social policy relating to gender. See, for example, Linda Gordon's collection of essays on social welfare policies, Women, the State, and Welfare (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1990), which contains a range of essays by a range of scholars that explore gender and welfare both in the past and today. See also Theda Skocpol's history, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992). Histories of education, even studies of school-leaving, or dropping out, pay scant attention to the issue of teenage pregnancy. See, for example, the recent work by Sherman Dorn, Creating the Dropout: An Institutional and Social History of School Failure (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996). Pursuing the subjects of teen pregnancy, single motherhood, social policy, and education separately, we miss the crucial connections between cultural perceptions of problems, institutions, and politically generated social policy. This article provides the opportunity to bridge gaps between these various topics and fields of scholarship.
13. Kunzel, Fallen Women, Problem Girls.
14. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, hearings on Adolescent Health, Services, and Pregnancy Prevention and Care Act of 1978 (Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1978), 126-27.
15. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 240.
16. National Research Council, A Common Destiny: Blacks and American Society, eds. Gerald David Jaynes and Robin M. Williams Jr. (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1989), 335-37.
17. Henretta et al., America's History Since 1865 (Chicago: Dorsey Press, 1987), 945.
18. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, hearings on Discussion Sessions on Issues Related to Population (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1976), 45.
19. Alan Guttmacher Institute, 11 Million Teenagers: What Can be Done about the Epidemic of Adolescent Pregnancies in the United States (New York: Planned Parenthood Federation of America, 1976).
20. Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? 24.
21. Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? 58.
22. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, hearings on Fertility and Contraception in America: Adolescent and Pre-Adolescent Pregnancy, vol. 2 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1978), 45.
23. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 45. Researchers and policymakers attempted to quantify and monitor the rates of pregnancy. Witnesses did testify to the details behind these numbers - although Blacks had higher rates of birth and illegitimacy, the overall rising rate of births and illegitimacy was fueled by increases in Whites' rates, whereas Blacks' rates fell and then leveled off over the same period. But the details of the statistics were not the focus of witnesses and policymakers at the hearings. Instead, the overall increasing number of teen pregnancies was monitored closely.
24. Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? 24.
25. Because of teen pregnancy's status as a social illness with identifiable and measurable aspects, discussions in hearings addressed how to handle it: by prevention or by treatment. As a service program, the Adolescent Health, Services, and Pregnancy Prevention Care Act (AHSPPCA) of 1978 was primarily a treatment policy. It had to compete for attention and limited funding, however, with prevention programs. Sergeant Shriver of the Kennedy Foundation, an advocate for services for pregnant and parenting teens drew the lines of the debate over services versus prevention in a 1978 hearing. "It is unlikely," to quote them [experts in the field], "that a massive increase in family planning or sex education or even in abortion would have a substantial effect today on teenage pregnancy. . . . We do have evidence that significant progress can be made by what we call 'comprehensive teenage programs'" - programs that included education and job training services for parenting teens. (See U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, hearings on Adolescent Health, Services, and Pregnancy Prevention Care Act of 1978 [Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1978], 53-54.)
26. Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? 65. Citation: U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 18.
27. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Energy and Commerce, hearings on Pregnancy-Related Health Services (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1985), 31.
28. Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? 86.
29. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, Discussion Sessions.
30. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Pregnancy-Related Health Services.
31. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, Discussion Sessions, 26.
32. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Post Office and Civil Service, Discussion Sessions, 43.
33. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 19.
34. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 190.
35. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 29.
36. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 140.
37. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 49.
38. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 158.
39. U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Population, hearings on Fertility and Contraception in America: Domestic Fertility Trends and Family Planning Services, vol. 1 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1978), 30.
40. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 253.
41. U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 30.
42. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 1.
43. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 156.
44. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 35. Why were teen mothers less likely to work and more likely to receive welfare than older women? Witnesses explained that there were two main factors involved. First, teen mothers were less likely to be high school graduates, thereby limiting their ability to find employment. Many teenage mothers seek employment to support their families; however, since they are not usually high school graduates and have little, if any, job experience, their employment options, where they exist, are generally limited to low-status jobs with little opportunity for advancement. A second serious impediment to employment, many witnesses testified, was the need for child care. Their [teen mothers'] take-home pay may not be much higher than the cost of child care; thus, even when teenage mothers want to work, and there is good evidence that this is the case, this option often is not economically feasible. . . . Many teenage mothers with young children may find public assistance the only short-term solution. (U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 25) Although there were a variety of reasons why teen mothers were unlikely to work and likely to receive welfare, the results of this phenomenon, policymakers agreed, were detrimental to society. Early childbearing also has an impact on society, for when individuals cannot realize their full educational and occupational potential, society loses their economic contribution. In addition, if early childbearers utilize public services more than other women public expenditures on programs such as . . . AFDC increase. (U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, hearings on Teen Parents and Their Children: Issues and Programs [Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1983], 20) Citing the "tremendous cost associated with assisting women and their children in this circumstance (teen parenting)," Senator Donald Riegle of Michigan opined, "I think we have every reason, starting with the obvious humane arguments of decency, but also in terms of Federal Government dollars, to come up with ways to see if we can help teenage mothers face these circumstances" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 25). Assistant Secretary of Health Joseph Califano, trying to justify education and job-training programs for parenting teens in 1978, framed the issue in the economic terms that, as we will see, were to become ubiquitous by the late 1980s: "The attention and devotion of resources to this problem [of teen motherhood] will save the country not simply untold human suffering, but tremendous amounts of money over time" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 45).
45. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 35. Why were teen mothers less likely to work and more likely to receive welfare than older women? Witnesses explained that there were two main factors involved. First, teen mothers were less likely to be high school graduates, thereby limiting their ability to find employment. Many teenage mothers seek employment to support their families; however, since they are not usually high school graduates and have little, if any, job experience, their employment options, where they exist, are generally limited to low-status jobs with little opportunity for advancement. A second serious impediment to employment, many witnesses testified, was the need for child care. Their [teen mothers'] take-home pay may not be much higher than the cost of child care; thus, even when teenage mothers want to work, and there is good evidence that this is the case, this option often is not economically feasible. . . . Many teenage mothers with young children may find public assistance the only short-term solution. (U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 25) Although there were a variety of reasons why teen mothers were unlikely to work and likely to receive welfare, the results of this phenomenon, policymakers agreed, were detrimental to society. Early childbearing also has an impact on society, for when individuals cannot realize their full educational and occupational potential, society loses their economic contribution. In addition, if early childbearers utilize public services more than other women public expenditures on programs such as . . . AFDC increase. (U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, hearings on Teen Parents and Their Children: Issues and Programs [Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1983], 20) Citing the "tremendous cost associated with assisting women and their children in this circumstance (teen parenting)," Senator Donald Riegle of Michigan opined, "I think we have every reason, starting with the obvious humane arguments of decency, but also in terms of Federal Government dollars, to come up with ways to see if we can help teenage mothers face these circumstances" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 25). Assistant Secretary of Health Joseph Califano, trying to justify education and job-training programs for parenting teens in 1978, framed the issue in the economic terms that, as we will see, were to become ubiquitous by the late 1980s: "The attention and devotion of resources to this problem [of teen motherhood] will save the country not simply untold human suffering, but tremendous amounts of money over time" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 45).
46. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 35. Why were teen mothers less likely to work and more likely to receive welfare than older women? Witnesses explained that there were two main factors involved. First, teen mothers were less likely to be high school graduates, thereby limiting their ability to find employment. Many teenage mothers seek employment to support their families; however, since they are not usually high school graduates and have little, if any, job experience, their employment options, where they exist, are generally limited to low-status jobs with little opportunity for advancement. A second serious impediment to employment, many witnesses testified, was the need for child care. Their [teen mothers'] take-home pay may not be much higher than the cost of child care; thus, even when teenage mothers want to work, and there is good evidence that this is the case, this option often is not economically feasible. . . . Many teenage mothers with young children may find public assistance the only short-term solution. (U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 25) Although there were a variety of reasons why teen mothers were unlikely to work and likely to receive welfare, the results of this phenomenon, policymakers agreed, were detrimental to society. Early childbearing also has an impact on society, for when individuals cannot realize their full educational and occupational potential, society loses their economic contribution. In addition, if early childbearers utilize public services more than other women public expenditures on programs such as . . . AFDC increase. (U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, hearings on Teen Parents and Their Children: Issues and Programs [Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1983], 20) Citing the "tremendous cost associated with assisting women and their children in this circumstance (teen parenting)," Senator Donald Riegle of Michigan opined, "I think we have every reason, starting with the obvious humane arguments of decency, but also in terms of Federal Government dollars, to come up with ways to see if we can help teenage mothers face these circumstances" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 25). Assistant Secretary of Health Joseph Califano, trying to justify education and job-training programs for parenting teens in 1978, framed the issue in the economic terms that, as we will see, were to become ubiquitous by the late 1980s: "The attention and devotion of resources to this problem [of teen motherhood] will save the country not simply untold human suffering, but tremendous amounts of money over time" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 45).
47. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 35. Why were teen mothers less likely to work and more likely to receive welfare than older women? Witnesses explained that there were two main factors involved. First, teen mothers were less likely to be high school graduates, thereby limiting their ability to find employment. Many teenage mothers seek employment to support their families; however, since they are not usually high school graduates and have little, if any, job experience, their employment options, where they exist, are generally limited to low-status jobs with little opportunity for advancement. A second serious impediment to employment, many witnesses testified, was the need for child care. Their [teen mothers'] take-home pay may not be much higher than the cost of child care; thus, even when teenage mothers want to work, and there is good evidence that this is the case, this option often is not economically feasible. . . . Many teenage mothers with young children may find public assistance the only short-term solution. (U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 25) Although there were a variety of reasons why teen mothers were unlikely to work and likely to receive welfare, the results of this phenomenon, policymakers agreed, were detrimental to society. Early childbearing also has an impact on society, for when individuals cannot realize their full educational and occupational potential, society loses their economic contribution. In addition, if early childbearers utilize public services more than other women public expenditures on programs such as . . . AFDC increase. (U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, hearings on Teen Parents and Their Children: Issues and Programs [Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1983], 20) Citing the "tremendous cost associated with assisting women and their children in this circumstance (teen parenting)," Senator Donald Riegle of Michigan opined, "I think we have every reason, starting with the obvious humane arguments of decency, but also in terms of Federal Government dollars, to come up with ways to see if we can help teenage mothers face these circumstances" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 25). Assistant Secretary of Health Joseph Califano, trying to justify education and job-training programs for parenting teens in 1978, framed the issue in the economic terms that, as we will see, were to become ubiquitous by the late 1980s: "The attention and devotion of resources to this problem [of teen motherhood] will save the country not simply untold human suffering, but tremendous amounts of money over time" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 45).
48. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 35. Why were teen mothers less likely to work and more likely to receive welfare than older women? Witnesses explained that there were two main factors involved. First, teen mothers were less likely to be high school graduates, thereby limiting their ability to find employment. Many teenage mothers seek employment to support their families; however, since they are not usually high school graduates and have little, if any, job experience, their employment options, where they exist, are generally limited to low-status jobs with little opportunity for advancement. A second serious impediment to employment, many witnesses testified, was the need for child care. Their [teen mothers'] take-home pay may not be much higher than the cost of child care; thus, even when teenage mothers want to work, and there is good evidence that this is the case, this option often is not economically feasible. . . . Many teenage mothers with young children may find public assistance the only short-term solution. (U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 25) Although there were a variety of reasons why teen mothers were unlikely to work and likely to receive welfare, the results of this phenomenon, policymakers agreed, were detrimental to society. Early childbearing also has an impact on society, for when individuals cannot realize their full educational and occupational potential, society loses their economic contribution. In addition, if early childbearers utilize public services more than other women public expenditures on programs such as . . . AFDC increase. (U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, hearings on Teen Parents and Their Children: Issues and Programs [Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1983], 20) Citing the "tremendous cost associated with assisting women and their children in this circumstance (teen parenting)," Senator Donald Riegle of Michigan opined, "I think we have every reason, starting with the obvious humane arguments of decency, but also in terms of Federal Government dollars, to come up with ways to see if we can help teenage mothers face these circumstances" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 25). Assistant Secretary of Health Joseph Califano, trying to justify education and job-training programs for parenting teens in 1978, framed the issue in the economic terms that, as we will see, were to become ubiquitous by the late 1980s: "The attention and devotion of resources to this problem [of teen motherhood] will save the country not simply untold human suffering, but tremendous amounts of money over time" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 45).
49. Nathanson, Dangerous Passage. The quote is taken from a federal hearing, U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 170-71.
50. U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 1, 30.
51. Even insofar as teen mothers had achievement problems, some witnesses argued, those problems were not so different from those of their peers. High school vocational programs for pregnant girls described the girls' difficulties in finding employment as due to the same problems faced by "other teen girls" - a general lack of skills and experience. (U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, hearings on Work, Education, and Training Opportunities for Welfare Recipients (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1986).
52. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 277.
53. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, hearings on Work Ethic: Materialism and the American Family (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1982), 122.
54. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, hearings on Welfare Reform (Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1987), 127.
55. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2,35.
56. Rickie Solinger, Wake Up Little Susie (New York: Routledge, 1993).
57. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Work Ethic, 122.
58. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Work Ethic 140. There were many examples of important debates over the relative merits of mandatory versus voluntary programs in the hearings. But even those who argue that voluntary programs were more successful than mandatory ones did not question the assumption that it was better for mothers on AFDC to do something outside the home in return for welfare benefits. There was some debate in the hearings, however, over whether or not it was better for children to have their mothers at home rather than at work. A representative of the Heritage Foundation for example, testified that teen mothers should not be forced out of their homes and their child-caring role. The judgment implicit in this legislation (mandatory "workfare" legislation) is that in female-headed families where no children are under 3 years old, . . . the woman's day time hours are always spent more productively at work than at home. I question this implicit premise. (Ibid., 124) Far more witnesses and policymakers, though, did not question it. As one witness put it, "Children do not benefit in the long run from having a single parent at home full time, if they do not also learn about self-sufficiency and the options available to them in the larger community" (U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Welfare Reform, 13). Weighing the value of the welfare mother, policymakers ultimately concluded that she was more valuable as a potential worker than as a mother; she should, therefore, be strongly encouraged to work outside of the home in return for welfare.
59. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Work Ethic 140. There were many examples of important debates over the relative merits of mandatory versus voluntary programs in the hearings. But even those who argue that voluntary programs were more successful than mandatory ones did not question the assumption that it was better for mothers on AFDC to do something outside the home in return for welfare benefits. There was some debate in the hearings, however, over whether or not it was better for children to have their mothers at home rather than at work. A representative of the Heritage Foundation for example, testified that teen mothers should not be forced out of their homes and their child-caring role. The judgment implicit in this legislation (mandatory "workfare" legislation) is that in female-headed families where no children are under 3 years old, . . . the woman's day time hours are always spent more productively at work than at home. I question this implicit premise. (Ibid., 124) Far more witnesses and policymakers, though, did not question it. As one witness put it, "Children do not benefit in the long run from having a single parent at home full time, if they do not also learn about self-sufficiency and the options available to them in the larger community" (U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Welfare Reform, 13). Weighing the value of the welfare mother, policymakers ultimately concluded that she was more valuable as a potential worker than as a mother; she should, therefore, be strongly encouraged to work outside of the home in return for welfare.
60. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Work Ethic 140. There were many examples of important debates over the relative merits of mandatory versus voluntary programs in the hearings. But even those who argue that voluntary programs were more successful than mandatory ones did not question the assumption that it was better for mothers on AFDC to do something outside the home in return for welfare benefits. There was some debate in the hearings, however, over whether or not it was better for children to have their mothers at home rather than at work. A representative of the Heritage Foundation for example, testified that teen mothers should not be forced out of their homes and their child-caring role. The judgment implicit in this legislation (mandatory "workfare" legislation) is that in female-headed families where no children are under 3 years old, . . . the woman's day time hours are always spent more productively at work than at home. I question this implicit premise. (Ibid., 124) Far more witnesses and policymakers, though, did not question it. As one witness put it, "Children do not benefit in the long run from having a single parent at home full time, if they do not also learn about self-sufficiency and the options available to them in the larger community" (U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Welfare Reform, 13). Weighing the value of the welfare mother, policymakers ultimately concluded that she was more valuable as a potential worker than as a mother; she should, therefore, be strongly encouraged to work outside of the home in return for welfare.
61. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Work Ethic, 7.
62. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Labor and Human Resources, Work Ethic, 7.
63. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Energy and Commerce, hearings on Health and the Environment - Miscellaneous - Part 3 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office 1984), 959.
64. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Welfare Reform, 127.
65. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Welfare Reform, 26.
66. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Welfare Reform, 12.
67. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, hearings on Education, Training, and Service Programs That Serve Disadvantaged Teens (Washington, DC: U S Government Printing Office, 1992), 3-4.
68. As in earlier hearings about mandatory work and motherhood, some legislators debated the appropriateness of making young mothers work. As before, those legislators who favored having young mothers work won the debates. Senator Nancy Johnson gave her opinion about the motherhood status of teen mothers when discussing mandatory work programs for young mothers receiving AFDC. I have been a strong advocate of welfare recipients being required to get involved in education or training 6 months after their first child. I think we are making a desperate and terrible mistake in waiting until that child "is old enough not to need its mother full time." These are not mothers that can mother full-time. Their time with that child would be more productive if it were guided parenting. The only way you can guide them in parenting is to require them to be involved [in education and job training programs]. (U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Education, Training, and Service Programs, 25)
69. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 126-127, and 140, respectively.
70. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 208.
71. U.S. Congress, Select Committee on Population, Fertility and Contraception, vol. 2, 208.
72. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 144-45.
73. U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 144-45.
74. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Pregnancy-Related Health Services, 110.
75. Stephen Cameron and James Heckman, "Determinants of Young Male Schooling and Training Choices," National Bureau of Economic Research working paper no. 4327, April 1993 (Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1993), 3.
76. American Council on Education, GED Testing Service, 1993 Statistical Report (Washington, DC: American Council on Education, 1994), 28.
77. Cameron and Heckman, "Determinants of Young Male Schooling." They note that reports of high drop-out rates conflict with data on the receipt of high school diplomas. "The growth in exam-certified equivalents explains an apparent contradiction in the data on high school dropouts." Many dropouts go on to receive the equivalent of a high school diploma (GED), thus
78. U.S. Congress, House, Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families, hearings on Teen Parents and Their Children (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1983), 87.
79. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Health and the Environment, 959.
80. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Energy and Commerce, Health and the Environment, 982.
81. U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Adolescent Health - Volume II: Background and the Effectiveness of Selected Prevention and Treatment Services (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 1991).
82. Vinovskis, An "Epidemic" of Adolescent Pregnancy? Also, as mentioned earlier in the text, the Adolescent Family Life Act (AFL) was in large part a result of the efforts of Senator Denton. His defeat may have hastened the declining importance of the AFL in the late 1980s.
83. U.S. Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Sources of Support for Adolescent Mothers (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990).
84. U.S. Congress, Congressional Budget Office, Sources of Support, 39.
85. American Council on Education, GED Testing Service, 7993 Statistical Report, 13.
86. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Education Training and Service Programs, 3-4, 34-35.
87. Clara Germani, "Second Chance Test Celebrates 50th year," Christian Science Monitor 24 August 1992, 13.
88. Stephen Cameron and James Heckman, "The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents," Journal of Labor Economics 11 (1993): 2.
89. Cameron and Heckman, "The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents," 3.
90. Deirdre Kelly, Last Chance High: How Girls and Boys Drop In and Out of Alternative Schools (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993). They might also be allowed to attend regular school, with the help of counseling. Or they might attend a school for pregnant teenagers and other at-risk adolescents, those with drug addictions, behavioral problems, disciplinary problems, or just very low educational achievement.
91. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Education, Training, and Service Programs, 34.
92. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Education, Training, and Service Programs, 63.
93. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, hearings on Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training Program (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1992), 7.
94. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Education, Training, and Service Programs, 61. States' inability to reach teens through the Job Opportunities and Basics Skills (JOBS) program spurred some of the witnesses to propose that the state redirect the JOBS funds for parenting teens to all "at-risk" teenagers through the school. In fact, although characterizations of pregnant teens as universal adolescents were common in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was also an alternative characterization of the parenting teen as an "at-risk" teen, although witnesses did not actually use that term until the late 1980s. Like children at risk of drug use, dropping out, or criminal offenses, teen mothers were one of many groups of kids who had problems. One witness described the interrelation of "at-risk" categories: "I want to emphasize that one-third of the girls that we serve were school dropouts before they ever became pregnant. So, we are talking about girls that the schools have not reached in some way" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 142). A doctor at the pioneering Johns Hopkins program for pregnant and parenting teens described factors contributing to teen pregnancy dropout as deriving from sources other than merely pregnancy. Part of the schooling problems leading to dropout related to inappropriate school placement for many of these kids. They had undiagnosed, unrecognized learning disabilities, and when placed in appropriate educational situations, schooling is not so painful and they go on to do much better. (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 157) By the early 1990s, states were lobbying the federal government in hearings to release federal funding designated for pregnant and parenting teens for use with all at-risk teens. (See the hearing cited initially in this note for details.) Teen mothers were like other problem teens, all of whom were in dire need of help. The reason behind this shift is peripheral to the scope of this article, but it poses an interesting question for historians.
95. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Education, Training, and Service Programs, 61. States' inability to reach teens through the Job Opportunities and Basics Skills (JOBS) program spurred some of the witnesses to propose that the state redirect the JOBS funds for parenting teens to all "at-risk" teenagers through the school. In fact, although characterizations of pregnant teens as universal adolescents were common in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was also an alternative characterization of the parenting teen as an "at-risk" teen, although witnesses did not actually use that term until the late 1980s. Like children at risk of drug use, dropping out, or criminal offenses, teen mothers were one of many groups of kids who had problems. One witness described the interrelation of "at-risk" categories: "I want to emphasize that one-third of the girls that we serve were school dropouts before they ever became pregnant. So, we are talking about girls that the schools have not reached in some way" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 142). A doctor at the pioneering Johns Hopkins program for pregnant and parenting teens described factors contributing to teen pregnancy dropout as deriving from sources other than merely pregnancy. Part of the schooling problems leading to dropout related to inappropriate school placement for many of these kids. They had undiagnosed, unrecognized learning disabilities, and when placed in appropriate educational situations, schooling is not so painful and they go on to do much better. (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 157) By the early 1990s, states were lobbying the federal government in hearings to release federal funding designated for pregnant and parenting teens for use with all at-risk teens. (See the hearing cited initially in this note for details.) Teen mothers were like other problem teens, all of whom were in dire need of help. The reason behind this shift is peripheral to the scope of this article, but it poses an interesting question for historians.
96. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Education, Training, and Service Programs, 61. States' inability to reach teens through the Job Opportunities and Basics Skills (JOBS) program spurred some of the witnesses to propose that the state redirect the JOBS funds for parenting teens to all "at-risk" teenagers through the school. In fact, although characterizations of pregnant teens as universal adolescents were common in the late 1970s and early 1980s, there was also an alternative characterization of the parenting teen as an "at-risk" teen, although witnesses did not actually use that term until the late 1980s. Like children at risk of drug use, dropping out, or criminal offenses, teen mothers were one of many groups of kids who had problems. One witness described the interrelation of "at-risk" categories: "I want to emphasize that one-third of the girls that we serve were school dropouts before they ever became pregnant. So, we are talking about girls that the schools have not reached in some way" (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 142). A doctor at the pioneering Johns Hopkins program for pregnant and parenting teens described factors contributing to teen pregnancy dropout as deriving from sources other than merely pregnancy. Part of the schooling problems leading to dropout related to inappropriate school placement for many of these kids. They had undiagnosed, unrecognized learning disabilities, and when placed in appropriate educational situations, schooling is not so painful and they go on to do much better. (U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Human Resources, Adolescent Health, 157) By the early 1990s, states were lobbying the federal government in hearings to release federal funding designated for pregnant and parenting teens for use with all at-risk teens. (See the hearing cited initially in this note for details.) Teen mothers were like other problem teens, all of whom were in dire need of help. The reason behind this shift is peripheral to the scope of this article, but it poses an interesting question for historians.
97. U.S. Congress, House, Committee on Ways and Means, Job Opportunities, 31.
98. Cameron and Heckman, "The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents," 1.
99. Cameron and Heckman, "The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents," 2.
100. Cameron and Heckman, "The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents," 13.
101. Cameron and Heckman, "The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents," 45.
102. Cameron and Heckman "Determinants of Young Male Schooling," 4 and abstract.
103. Cameron and Heckman "Determinants of Young Male Schooling," abstract.
104. Cameron and Heckman, "The Nonequivalence of High School Equivalents," 3.
105. Peter Kilborn, "Up from Welfare: It's Harder and Harder," New York Times, 16 April 1995, sec. 4, p. 1.