What if there was no state or goverment help

[Lushwirral]

I think it would drop dramatically, especially where I live. Having a baby at an early age is a lifestyle choice and often goes from generation to generation. Why on earth would a young girl from a socially deprived area want to make a go of her life, when her parents and grandparents have never worked and seemingly get everything they want for free! Free housing with no upkeep worries, no council tax, grants to buy baby essentials, free school dinners, free dental care and weekly cash to live on.
I know this doesn't apply to all, but trust me, where I live the problem is massive and I can't really see it changes, although I think the Tories are trying.

 

[Foogirl]

I'm going to get really controversial here, but I don't really think 'unplanned' is the right term for many teen pregnancies. To me an unplanned pregnancy happens when a couple are actively trying to avoid becoming pregnant and are using contraception but it fails, as it can in about 2 or 3 percent of cases. If the number of teen births represents 2 percent of sexually activity, that would suggest the majority of teenagers are regularly sexually active and I just don't think that is the case.

I would consider these to be 'careless' pregnancies. I used contraception from the start because I knew that having a child would impact on my planned life and I couldn't afford to raise them. Perhaps if then safety net was taken away, more teenagers would be responsible when having sex.

Of course, it is about more than the money. No teenager who has the determination to be successful in life will risk that for a quick, unprotected fumble behind the bike shed. We need to be encouraging young people to have a goal in life and helping them get there to break the generational cycle. Take away one safety net but replace it with the chance of a better future.

 

[tu123]

Here in Australia they are cracking down hard on teenage pregnancies. It will soon be that new teen mums will have to go back to looking for work/go back to school 6 months PP. Right now it is when the youngest child is 6 yo. Unfortunately in my city I know faaaaaaar too many girls still in school/just out of school who are having babies for the 'Baby Bonus' which is a $5000 grant paid in installments fortnightly, and they get Single Mothers pension on the top which is $600 f/n, then Family Tax Benefit parts A and B which is dependent on income so can be up to $200 with both. So they are getting close to $1500 a fornight, then around $800 f/n after Baby Bonus runs out until the child turns 6. (It is the same for single mothers over 18, some of whom still have babies to get the money just as a lot of teenage girls here are.)
So now teen mothers will only get their SMP if they are actively looking for work/studying when they get to 6 months PP. I think it will stop a LOT of these girls from purposefully getting pregnant. There is a huge outcry, but the facts are that since the Baby Bonus payment came in, the amount of pregnant teenage girls in my city increased and it was probably the same all around Australia. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

You are JOKING right? WOW!!!!

I dont feel it would change much. Teen or older, some people just never consider consequences.

It's a tough question. I am proud that we can look after our more needy citizens, but i also get irked by people who are just bums and are on the sick for no reason. Every town has its fair share of poeple with a cant be bothered attitude. It also gives people who need benefits a bad name.

I was raised by my grandparents as my mother was a twit. She took all the benefits she could, worked one day in her life and got the sack for pinching perfume. She used the money to smoke pot with her idiot boyfriends. She was never raised this way.

She passed along time ago now, but she was your classic benefit abuser. My grandparents looked after me for 15 years and she never gave him one bit of the childbenefit she claimed for me. Terrible.

 

[cabaretmum2b]

I conceived when I was 17 and on the pill, completely unplanned. My mum's house is overcrowded as it is, we couldn't have stayed there. We would have either had to move in with OHs parents or had a termination (as much as it breaks my heart to think of it) because I would not have been able to bring Scarlett up in a safe environment with enough money to care for her.

ETA: I also want to mention that, despite having a baby and not coming from the highest background, I'm doing unpaid work experience most of the week and hoping to go to uni next year to become a teacher. I definitely have ambitions and a goal in life - now I just need to work harder to get there.

 

[Kimmy25]

I conceived when I was 17 and on the pill, completely unplanned. My mum's house is overcrowded as it is, we couldn't have stayed there. We would have either had to move in with OHs parents or had a termination (as much as it breaks my heart to think of it) because I would not have been able to bring Scarlett up in a safe environment with enough money to care for her.

ETA: I also want to mention that, despite having a baby and not coming from the highest background, I'm doing unpaid work experience most of the week and hoping to go to uni next year to become a teacher. I definitely have ambitions and a goal in life - now I just need to work harder to get there.

I was also 17 when I conceived with DS1 also on the pill..I found having a baby made my ambitions even stronger as I wanted to provide a loving stable home for my son. I now have a well paid job and had bought my own place by the time I was 21.

Good Luck hope you achieve everything you set out to do xx

 

[cabaretmum2b]

I conceived when I was 17 and on the pill, completely unplanned. My mum's house is overcrowded as it is, we couldn't have stayed there. We would have either had to move in with OHs parents or had a termination (as much as it breaks my heart to think of it) because I would not have been able to bring Scarlett up in a safe environment with enough money to care for her.

ETA: I also want to mention that, despite having a baby and not coming from the highest background, I'm doing unpaid work experience most of the week and hoping to go to uni next year to become a teacher. I definitely have ambitions and a goal in life - now I just need to work harder to get there.

I was also 17 when I conceived with DS1 also on the pill..I found having a baby made my ambitions even stronger as I wanted to provide a loving stable home for my son. I now have a well paid job and had bought my own place by the time I was 21.

Good Luck hope you achieve everything you set out to do xx

Well done! Shows it can be done Out of interest, what do you do now (if that's nto a rude question!)?
It is a shame that I'm probably the only person my age I know in real life who actually wants to do something...other girls I know are perfectly happy living off benefits for the rest of their lives. Their parents do, though, so they must just see it as the norm.

 

[Kimmy25]

I conceived when I was 17 and on the pill, completely unplanned. My mum's house is overcrowded as it is, we couldn't have stayed there. We would have either had to move in with OHs parents or had a termination (as much as it breaks my heart to think of it) because I would not have been able to bring Scarlett up in a safe environment with enough money to care for her.

ETA: I also want to mention that, despite having a baby and not coming from the highest background, I'm doing unpaid work experience most of the week and hoping to go to uni next year to become a teacher. I definitely have ambitions and a goal in life - now I just need to work harder to get there.

I was also 17 when I conceived with DS1 also on the pill..I found having a baby made my ambitions even stronger as I wanted to provide a loving stable home for my son. I now have a well paid job and had bought my own place by the time I was 21.

Good Luck hope you achieve everything you set out to do xx

Well done! Shows it can be done Out of interest, what do you do now (if that's nto a rude question!)?
It is a shame that I'm probably the only person my age I know in real life who actually wants to do something...other girls I know are perfectly happy living off benefits for the rest of their lives. Their parents do, though, so they must just see it as the norm.

I work for the Probation Service, took 2 years of college and some Unpaid Work for experience but got there in the end. Theres plenty of people the same round here and I didnt want to be one of them!

 

[Foogirl]

I conceived when I was 17 and on the pill, completely unplanned. My mum's house is overcrowded as it is, we couldn't have stayed there. We would have either had to move in with OHs parents or had a termination (as much as it breaks my heart to think of it) because I would not have been able to bring Scarlett up in a safe environment with enough money to care for her.

ETA: I also want to mention that, despite having a baby and not coming from the highest background, I'm doing unpaid work experience most of the week and hoping to go to uni next year to become a teacher. I definitely have ambitions and a goal in life - now I just need to work harder to get there.

See,this, to me, is where the problem lies. There are people who receive this help and whom are willing to give back as much as they receive and work themselves out of their situation, whilst needing some help to do it. I'm happy our system allows people to do that. it is those who make it a lifestyle choice or who are careless and take an "Oh well, Benfits for me then" attitude which make it harder for our country to support people like yourself.

It becomes a 'deserving poor' debate and that' a whole other can of worms.

Maybe the Australian example is the key. We'll help, but you must help too. And that goes for ALL on benefits, just not teen mums.

 

[kerrie24]

Slightly off the original question but imo,having/raising kids is a damn hard job and no way would I do it to get benefits,its not worth all the money you could pay me,for the work it takes.

I got pregnant at 17 we used a condom every time and werent aware of any accidents but I found out when I was due to go to my second year of A levels that I was 5 months gone.
We then chose to have 2 more children.Oh works but we get tax credit top ups,he pays his tax and NI and once my children are all at school I will be getting a job too.

 

[Agiboma]

yes i do think the numbers would be reduced

 

[Cat lady]

AM not sure about this one. At the moment, we dont get anything other than child benefit, which tbh if it stopped, yes we would be tighter but we would do something to ensure we could afford to live. But I was very pleased to get smp, couldnt have had 6 months maternity if we didnt get that!
I know that doesnt really answer your original question as dh is in his 30's and I am almost there!!
I dont think it would stop unplanned pregnancys as they are just that, a mistake, perhaps the rate of abortions would increase?? Dont really know. But what I do know is having a baby is hard work, I didnt realise it would be SO hard. Always thought when people said how difficult it was that dh and I would cope better than they were and it would all be fine!
xxx

 

[Pearls18]

I don't know if it would make a difference to unplanned pregnancies- maybe it would mean people would HAVE to be more careful (I also had an unplanned, but admittedly avoidable pregnancy- but happily so!!) It would perhaps mean adoption and the other 'a' rates would go up. I am VERY thankful for the benefits system, we are in the situation of needing it atm but because we are a couple the money we get is meagre so I am having to consider going back to work now much sooner than I would have liked- but at the end of the day I got pregnant so it is MY duty to look after my son, not the tax payers. I think the system has many faults and perhaps protects certain members of society more than is fair.

 

[Lellow]

It would defintely reduce the number and it would make people more careful.

 

[NG09]

I think it would make people more carefull not to get pregnant in the first place if they couldn't afford to bring up a baby from the get go. I understand peoples circumstances change and they might need some support for a short period of time but that's different to getting pregnant without a care for how you are actually going to pay your way, which is wrong IMO.

 

[ttc_lolly]

It would definitely lower unplanned pregnancies, I think people would be more careful.

 

[special_kala]

There are 2 kind of unlplanned pregnancy

1 - Using protection and getting caught out anyway
2 - not using any protection and then being surprised your pregnant

If there wasnt such a safety net then the 2nd one wouldnt happen so much IMO

 

[special_kala]

I mean like those idiots you see on Tv shows when the MW says

"was it planned?"
"no"
"were you using contraception?"
"no"

What did they think would happen!

 

[MrsRabbit]

I think some would be more careful.

I didn't know about WIC [formula and food program here in the States] when I got pregnant with my son. It was not part of our having a baby plan. When I went to the doctor I learned we were within the income guidelines. Now I know several women who choose to have another baby they cannot really afford because they'll get WIC during pregnancy and until the kids 5. They'll also get food stamps because the household will have more people.

Planning to have a child and planning to use government aid seems short sighted to me.

I thank God for government aid often. With children with special needs there are a lot of REALLY expensive things I would not be able to give my children without it like DD's MRI for her seizures or her formula which runs about $700 a month.

 

[shortie1990]

I’m not quite sure it'd make much difference really..I mean people aren't thinking about how they are going to fund a child when they are having sex are they..
it'd mean more children would be brought up in poverty, and maybe more people would be forced to have abortions/have their child adopted. But this isn’t always the best option, as being forced to give your child up for adoption causes years of mental torture, and years down the line when/if they were to be reunited, it is just one big disaster waiting to happen (speaking from experience as my mum was adopted, and has found her biological mother, and it’s just not as black and white as that, there are a lot of issues etc that come with it) and yes it’s ok to say well they should be more careful in the first place, but it just isn't as black and white as that.

I feel strongly against adoption as I see what it has done to my mum/grandma, and my grandma who adopted my mum now that my mum is back in contact with her bological mother, It's just one big mess.

 

[special_kala]

Btw i dont think they should stop the goverment help, yes there are people who take the piss with it bur its worth it when it helps the people who really need it.