Fox News Senior Medical Analyst Marc Siegel made some eyebrow-raising comments lamenting that birth rates are down among teenagers aged 15 to 19.
On Thursday, the National Center for Health Statistics reported that the U.S. fertility rate fell to another record low. The agency reported that the number of births per 1,000 women of childbearing age declined from 53.8 in 2024 to 53.1 last year. The latest figure represents a continuation of a decades-long decline in fertility rates.
Siegel joined Friday’s edition of America’s Newsroom, where Dana Perino said that while the continuing trend is not surprising, “the numbers might feel a little shocking.”
Just makes us easier to subjugate.
Teen moms are way more likely to drop out of school, which kind of snowballs into lower paying jobs, more financial stress, higher poverty rates, that whole thing. There are also real health risks involved, especially if she’s younger, stuff like preeclampsia and anemia are more common, and sadly maternal mortality is higher too. A lot of teen moms also end up pregnant again within a couple years, and depression and anxiety are pretty common outcomes as well.
For the kid, preterm birth and low birth weight are more likely, and as they grow up there tend to be more developmental and behavioral challenges on average. One of the more striking stats is that daughters of teen moms are significantly more likely to become teen moms themselves, and that cycle is really hard to break.
Dads kind of get left out of the research, but the data that exists shows they face a lot of the same economic and educational setbacks, and they’re less likely to stay involved with the child long term.