Costs of Teen Sexual Activity

The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing

Source: Hoffman, S. (2006). By the Numbers: The Public Costs of Teen Childbearing, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

The report’s primary findings include:

Teen childbearing in the United States cost taxpayers (federal, state, and local) at least $9.1 billion in 2004. Put another way, the average annual cost associated with a child born to a teen mother is $1,430.
Most of the costs of teen childbearing are associated with negative consequences for the children of teen mothers. These costs include $1.9 billion for increased public sector health care costs, $2.3 billion for increased child welfare costs, $2.1 billion for increased costs for state prison systems, and $2.9 billion in lost revenue due to lower taxes paid by the children of teen mothers over their own adult lifetimes.
The public sector costs of young teens (those aged 17 and younger) having children are particularly high. These births account for $8.6 billion of costs, an average of $4,080 per mother annually.
The taxpayer costs associated with teen childbearing to those aged 18-19 are estimated at $0.4 billion annually.
Between 1991 and 2004 there were 6,776,230 births to teens in the United States. The estimated cumulative public costs of teen childbearing during this time period is $161 billion dollars.
The steady decline in the teen birth rate between 1991 and 2004 has already yielded substantial cost savings. As noted above, the national teen birth rate declined by one-third between 1991 and 2004. This progress in reducing teen childbearing saved taxpayers an estimated $6.7 billion in 2004 alone.
Because not all costs can be measured, and because the estimates themselves are constructed conservatively, it is certain that the full public sector costs of teen childbearing are larger than those noted in this analysis.

Costs of STIs/STDs per year

Source: CDC (2006). STD Surveillance 2006: Trends in reportable sexually transmitted diseases in the United States, 2006.

Sample of primary findings:

The CDC estimates that approximately 19 million new infections occur each year, half of which occur in young people ages 15 to 24.
Direct medical costs associated with STDs in the U.S. are estimated at up to $14.7 billion.
Many cases of STDs go undiagnosed and some are not reported at all.
Chlamydia:

In 2006: 1,030,911 diagnoses reported up from 976,445 in 2005. This reflects a 5.6 percent increase.
This bacterial infection is highest in young females ages 15-19.
The CDC recommends annual Chlamydia screening for all sexually active women under age 26.

Gonorrhea:

This is the second most commonly reported infectious disease in the U.S.
The South has the highest gonorrhea rate among the four regions of the country.
Drug resistance is an increasingly important concern in the treatment and prevention of gonorrhea.

Syphilis:

The rate of syphilis in the U.S. has increased for the sixth year.
The rising rates have been driven largely by cases among men who have sex with men.

Cost of STDs to the U.S. Health Care System

Source: CDC press release, March 10, 2008.

Primary statements:

STDs have a substantial economic impact, costing the U.S. health care system as much as $15.5 billion annually.

Emotional Costs of Teen Sexual Activity

Source: Rector, R., Johnson, K., Noyes, L. (2003). Sexually Active Teenagers are More Likely to be Depressed and to Attempt Suicide, The Heritage Foundation, Washington D.C.

Primary findings:

When compared to teens who are not sexually active, teenage boys and girls who are sexually active are significantly less likely to be happy and more likely to feel depressed.
When compared to teens who are not sexually active, teenage boys and girls who are sexually active are significantly more likely to attempt suicide.
A full quarter (25.3 percent) of teenage girls who are sexually active report that they are depressed all, most, or a lot of the time. By con¬trast, only 7.7 percent of teen¬age girls who are not sexually active report that they are depressed all, most, or a lot of the time. Thus, sexually active girls are more than three times more likely to be depressed than are girls who are not sexually active.
Some 8.3 percent of teenage boys who are sexually active report that they are depressed all, most, or a lot of the time. By contrast, only 3.4 percent of teenage boys who are not sexually active are depressed all, most, or a lot of the time. Thus, boys who are sexually active are more than twice as likely to be depressed as are those who are not sexually active.
A full 14.3 percent of girls who are sexually active report having attempted suicide. By con¬trast, only 5.1 percent of sexually inactive girls have attempted suicide. Thus, sexually active girls are nearly three times more likely to attempt suicide than are girls who are not sexually active.
Among boys, 6.0 percent of those who are sexually active have attempted suicide. By contrast, only 0.7 percent of boys who are not sexually active have attempted suicide. Thus, sexually active teenage boys are eight times more likely to attempt suicide than are boys who are not sexually active.
A recent poll by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy asked the question, “If you have had sexual intercourse, do you wish you had waited longer?” Among those teens who reported that they had engaged in intercourse, nearly two-thirds stated that they wished they had waited longer before becoming sexually active. By contrast, only one-third of sexually active teens asserted that their commencement of sexual activity was appropriate and that they did not wish they had waited until they were older. Thus, among sexually active teens, those who regretted early sexual activity outnumbered those without such concerns by nearly two to one.

Source: Hager, D. (2004). The Emotional Antecedent and Sequelae of Adolescent Sexual Activity. Christian Medical and Dental Association.

Major findings:

“These statistics are alarming, but what about the emotional sequelae of being infected; having a non-marital pregnancy or just being sexually active outside of marriage? Do we have an antibiotic, an antiviral agent or a vaccine that will prevent the potentially devastating consequences of shattered emotions when a sexually intimate relationship ends; when an adolescent girl finds out that her boyfriend is having sex with another female; when an emotionally, vulnerable male is told by the female that he has been sleeping with that she doesn’t want to see him anymore; when the 15-year-old finds out that she is pregnant by her 22-year-old partner and never hears from him again; when the 18-year-old has an abortion and suffers severe depression and guilt now and later; when the 16-year-old who thought she was safe by having oral-genital sex with her boyfriend is diagnosed with gonococcal pharyngitis and oral herpes; when the vulnerable adolescent male submits to the seduction of an older male and is infected with anal condylomata; when the 18-year-old female suddenly finds numerous herpetic ulcers on her genitalia after having sex with her 19-year-old fiancée.”
When any couple becomes sexually active, they emotionally “super-glue” themselves to each other. This is the way it was intended to be. Once “glued” the couple is to remain attached. However, in the non-married state these relationships frequently do not last.
Specific brain chemicals are released during intercourse that promote emotional intimacy and bonding.
Some specific antecedent factors to teen sexual activity include: forced sex, low self-esteem, depression, alcohol use, substance abuse, poor school performance, conduct disorders and ADHD.
There is a significantly higher percentage of sexually active females who had attempted suicide or had suicidal ideation than non-sexually active teen.

Academic Achievement Costs

Source: Rector, R., Johnson, K. (2005). Teenage Sexual Abstinence and Academic Achievement, The Heritage Foundation, Washington D.C.