1. THE IMPACT OF EARLY MOTHERHOOD ON
EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
BY
BETHANY WATSON
Adolescent Motherhood

2. Mission Statement
For over a century Hephzibah
has been serving the needs of
children and families who are
homeless, orphaned, abused, and
neglected. Our passion is driven
by Christ’s command to “offer
a cup of cold water” in Jesus’
name and to provide loving,
caring, professional, and
passionate service to those that
are in need.

3. Early Childhood and Parenting Program
 The intention of the ECP is to ensure the residents with
children become adequately prepared mothers during their
stay here at HCH. Obviously they learn a great deal in the
houses from the houseparents on a regular basis, but
allowing for this more formal and regulated learning time
ensures this is getting done in an appropriate manner, and
provides HCH with more information on the state of the
residents’ parenting skills at all times.

4. Education and HCH
 Georgia law requires that children from age 6 to 16 attend
school
 The education of the residents of Hephzibah is of the
utmost importance.
 On-campus Education center
 Houseparents should check resident’s homework and assist as
needed. Encouraging regular study habits and dedication to school
work will provide lifelong benefits to each resident.
 Young children benefit from being read too and older resident’s
benefit from seeing positive examples. Encouraging residents of all
ages to express themselves verbally opens the door to helping them
with any issues and removing any roadblocks to success.

5. What I wanted to study after my time at HCH
 Does adolescent motherhood impact
educational attainment?
How much of an impact, if any?

6. Georgia is
• 42nd for teens not in school and
not high school graduates (9)
• 45th for teens not attending
school and not working - Teen
mothers are less likely to
complete the education
necessary to qualify for well-
paying jobs. Plus, having
multiple children compounds
the challenges a teen mother
faces to finish school or keep a
job. (9)

7. Sociological Theory Application
 Critical Theory
 The concerns of the new social movements are not wages
or work conditions but “have to do with quality of life,
equal rights, individual self-realization, participation, and
human rights...” (Seidman, 126)
 “…aims to not only understand society but change it”
(Seidman, 113)
Policy Change
Title IX
Second Chance Homes

8. Previous Research Outcomes
1-3 years less education than their non-
childbearing counterparts
“After controlling for both observed and unobserved
differences in background and personal characteristics, we
found that early childbearing reduced the educational
attainment of young women by one to three years”
(Klepinger,1995)
“Our estimates also vary greatly, from 0.7 to 1.9 fewer years
of schooling” (Kane et al., 2013)

9. Social Implication of Being a Young Mother
 Problems in the school system
 Peers and teachers
 Dropping out of school
a process not a one time event, they left school and came
back and left again; they were held back a grade because of
absences, tried to catch up, became discouraged, and stopped
attending; they change schools and tried again in a different
state or country” (Erdmans and Black, 2015, 155).

10. Ways to Improve Educational Attainment
 Programs
Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential
(GCAPP) – Second Chance Home
 “ninety percent of their residents to get their high school
degree or the equivalent, the GED and a third of these
graduates were pursuing a higher degree and twenty-four
percent still in high school of GED programs after 2 years”
(Hudgins, 2014).
Teen Choice Program
 improvements in sense of personal empowerment, self-
efficacy to engage in safer sex practices and parenting
expectations and roles (Lieberman, 2015)

11. References
 Anon. n.d. “» About Us Hephzibah Ministries.” Retrieved September 26, 2016
(https://www.hephzibah.org/about-us/).
 Anon. n.d. “Fast Facts | GCAPP.” Fast Facts | GCAPP. Retrieved September
25, 2016 (http://www.gcapp.org/fast-facts).
 Erdmans, Mary Patrice and Timothy Black. 2015. On Becoming a Teen Mom:
Life before Pregnancy. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.
 Hudgins, R., S. Erickson, and D. Walker. 2014. “Everyone Deserves a Second
Chance: A Decade of Supports for Teenage Mothers.” Health & Social Work
39(2):101–8.
 Lieberman, Lisa D., Linda Lausell Bryant, and Keneca Boyce. 2015. “Family
Preservation and Healthy Outcomes for Pregnant and Parenting Teens in
Foster Care. The Inwood House Theory of Change.” Journal of Family Social
Work 18(1):21–39.
 Seidman, Steven. Contested Knowledge: Social Theory Today. 4th ed. Malden,
MA: Blackwell Pub., 2008. Print.