Caja de herramientas

This document aims to be the first of a series of annual reports to gain a better understanding of adolescent pregnancy in the region. This first report focuses on the comparative results of the first six studies on the economic consequences of adolescent pregnancy conducted in Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Paraguay.
The report highlights the social costs of adolescent pregnancy for States and mothers, including the education dimension, their availability to work outside the household, differential levels of employment, earned income, and the health care costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium. It also addresses the fiscal dimension (collection of direct and indirect taxes related to early mothers). Considered together, the impact of these costs on national economies becomes more significant, and the opportunity cost of preventing adolescent pregnancy becomes even more relevant.
On the other hand, this report includes an evaluation of the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescent pregnancy in the region, considering not only the increasing number of cases, but also the additional costs for countries.
But this situation can change if countries implement appropriate policies. To this end, UNFPA advocates for a comprehensive approach that combines different interventions, such as eliminating legal barriers to access adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services, expanding their coverage, increasing the availability of modern contraceptives and promoting the use and dissemination of long-acting contraceptive methods. It also advocates for in-school and out-of-school comprehensive sexual education, sexual violence prevention and care strategies, programmes focusing on girls’ empowerment and knowledge about their rights, and actions to prevent early marriage and unions, among others.