Fifty-four percent of the abandoned infants were expected to be placed in foster family care, and six percent were expected to move into adoptive placements. As many as 80 percent of drug exposed infants will come to the attention of the child welfare system before their first birthday. It is estimated that between 72,000 and 125,000 children will be orphaned by AIDS by the year 2000. Teen pregnancy rates in the United States continue to be higher than in other industrialized nations. Despite a decrease in the rate of teenage childbearing, the number of births to teens increased in 1994, reflecting an increase in the overall U.S. teenage population.
Sexual abuse elevates the risk of adolescent pregnancy.
Between 1986 and 1993, the estimated number of sexually abused children increased from 119,200 to 217,700. Each year almost one million teenagers become pregnant. Each year, one girl in 10 between the ages of 15 and 19 gives birth or has an abortion, compared with fewer than one in 20 in England, France, and Canada. Infants of unmarried teenage mothers are 1.5 times more likely to die in infancy and two times more likely to be born underweight than those born to women older than 20. A Guide to Purchasing Services, 1996.