Teenage PregnancyBefore we venture into the controversial aspects of teen pregnancy, I think it is important to answer a vital question raised by the one of our classmates. This question is about the evolution of teenage pregnancy and how times have changed to lead to such a serious problem. To begin to answer this question, we need to look back in time at the roles of women and men in our society. Teenage pregnancy is not just a rare virus that has emerged recently and will one day disappear with a cure. Teen pregnancy has been a scourge in our country for over three centuries, but only more recently have we noticed its growth and serious impact on many aspects of society. The social change that leads to this visibility is not based solely on a change in sexual behavior. , but it is also based on a change in the nature of adolescence. These changes begin with the decrease in the average age of first period. Ten years ago, the average age of first period for girls was 14.2 years; since then, this age has decreased by two years. The average age of the first period is now 12.2 years. This statistic suggests that because girls are able to have children at younger ages, they are also more likely to have sex at a younger age. Social changes that affect these statistics include the increase in the average age of marriage, standard attitudes toward marriage as well as the increase in the average age of marriage. a sacred institution and economic changes that led to a need for longer educational careers. These changes have created pockets of urban poverty where education is often not valued or taken seriously. Unfortunately, the need for higher education is reflected in the fact that only at postsecondary levels has enrollment increased in recent years, and then only in the late teens. Are whites more likely than blacks to enroll in an educational institution. Due to economic demands, many young people are dependent on their parents for a longer period of time, which has left some groups without access to economic options that allow them to prepare for the future. Some of the reasons for the increasing age of young people at marriage stem from the changing role of women in our society. Women are participating in a male workplace more than ever and are facing issues such as maintaining their homes, the cost of raising children, and the importance of education..