A PERSPECTIVE ON CANADIAN TEENAGE BIRTHS, 1992-94 - OLDER MEN AND YOUNGER WOMEN

This article uses vital statistics relating to births by Canadian moth ers between 1992 and 1994 to examine the distribution of age of father by age of mother at the birth of the child. Over 77% of births to tee nage mothers involved males who were older than the mother. At the tim e of birth of the child, the mean difference between age of the teenag e mother and the father was 4.1 years, compared with a mean of 2.6 yea rs for all mothers and fathers. For mother below the age of 18 years, 37% of partners were within 2 years of the woman's age, 39% were 3 to 5 years older, and 24% were six or more years older. Family planning a nd sex education programs directed at the prevention of teenage pregna ncy, especially if these programs are given in the elementary or high school system, would not necessarily reach older males, who make up th e majority of partners in teenage pregnancies.