• Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • World News
  • Second Amendment
Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Illinois Review
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • World News
  • Second Amendment
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • World News
  • Second Amendment
No Result
View All Result
Illinois Review
No Result
View All Result
Home Illinois News

Glennon: Best Chicago news in 2017? Historic low teen births

Illinois Review by Illinois Review
December 29, 2017
in Illinois News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
6
26
SHARES
434
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

920x920

You might also like

Weyermuller: Only Citizens Vote Bus Tour Hits the Midwest

Illinois GOP Leader Larry Smith Advises Against Attending Pro-Second Amendment Meeting

Chicago Mayor Claims ‘Affordable Housing’ is the Key to Reducing Crime in Awkward MSNBC Interview

By Mark Glennon –

The full impact will materialize only over many years, but my vote for the best news in Chicago this year was the huge drop in teenage births to a historic low. As recently as 1999, the rate of teenage births was over 3.5 times the current rate, and the improvement has been across all racial and ethnic groups. With births now at 27.5 per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19, Chicago is now not far above the national average of 22.3.

Few matters are as well documented by research as the value of waiting to have a baby until you have a committed partner and the financial means to raise a child. Couple it with getting a high school diploma and holding a full-time job and you have a 98% chance of avoiding poverty and joining the middle class.

It’s not just poverty that’s linked to teenage births. The children face increased risk of lives marked by crime, poor educational performance and bad health. According to the federal government, teen childbearing costs U.S. taxpayers between $9.4 and $28 billion a year through public assistance payments, lost tax revenue, and greater expenditures for public health care, foster care, and criminal justice services.

Both the left and right should be pleased with Chicago’s progress since the drop is apparently not attributable to more abortions. Its frequency also dropped in Cook County and statewide, mirroring a national trend that has the rate now at it’s lowest since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.

Mayor Emanuel and Chicago’s Department of Public Health credit themselves and federal funding for the drop in teen births. Maybe that’s right, I don’t know — Chicago’s progress is part of a similar national trend. Salute to them if it is right and to anybody else working on the issue.

Young women in poverty seek meaning in their lives by having a child, but end up contributing to the cycle of poverty for themselves and their children.

Maybe that cycle is finally breaking.

*Mark Glennon is founder of Wirepoints. Opinions expressed are his own. 

Published first on Wirepoints, submitted to Illinois Review.

Related

Share10Tweet7
Previous Post

National news focuses on nation’s “worst Republican governor” in Illinois

Next Post

Lawmakers hopeful birth rates improve with tax reform?

Illinois Review

Illinois Review

Founded in 2005, Illinois Review is the leading perspective and source of conservative news, opinion and information in Illinois. Follow Illinois Review on X at @IllinoisReview.

Recommended For You

Weyermuller: Only Citizens Vote Bus Tour Hits the Midwest

by Mark Weyermuller
September 2, 2025
0
Weyermuller: Only Citizens Vote Bus Tour Hits the Midwest

By Mark Weyermuller, Opinion ContributorThe Only Citizens Vote bus tour stopped Monday at Rivals Sports Bar in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Speakers included Tea Party Patriots founder Jenny Beth Martin...

Read moreDetails

Illinois GOP Leader Larry Smith Advises Against Attending Pro-Second Amendment Meeting

by Illinois Review
August 28, 2025
0
Illinois GOP Leader Larry Smith Advises Against Attending Pro-Second Amendment Meeting

By Illinois ReviewLarry Smith, a member of the Illinois Republican Party State Central Committee and chairman of the LaSalle County GOP, reportedly urged people not to attend a...

Read moreDetails

Chicago Mayor Claims ‘Affordable Housing’ is the Key to Reducing Crime in Awkward MSNBC Interview

by Illinois Review
August 26, 2025
0
Chicago Mayor Claims ‘Affordable Housing’ is the Key to Reducing Crime in Awkward MSNBC Interview

By Illinois ReviewDuring a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson sidestepped questions about the city’s police shortage, instead insisting that “affordable housing” is the...

Read moreDetails

Pritzker Threatens Backers of National Guard in Chicago During Press Conference: ‘We’re Taking Names’

by Illinois Review
August 25, 2025
0
Pritzker Threatens Backers of National Guard in Chicago During Press Conference: ‘We’re Taking Names’

By Illinois ReviewAt a dramatic Monday afternoon press conference in downtown Chicago – flanked by nearly every major Democrat in the region – Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivered...

Read moreDetails

Sources: GOP Mega-Donor Dick Uihlein Sitting Out Illinois Governor Primary

by Illinois Review
August 25, 2025
0
Sources: GOP Mega-Donor Dick Uihlein Sitting Out Illinois Governor Primary

By Illinois ReviewAs the Republican primary for Illinois governor takes shape, billionaire mega-donor Richard Uihlein’s name is once again circulating in political circles.In recent weeks, advisers connected to...

Read moreDetails
Next Post

Lawmakers hopeful birth rates improve with tax reform?

Please login to join discussion

Best Dental Group

Related News

IL Freedom Caucus calls on Lurie Children’s Hospital to cease gender services for kids

October 27, 2022

Beckman: Is the Brigham Young University racial slur controversy another hoax?

October 27, 2022

Salvi polling shows closer race

October 27, 2022

Browse by Category

  • America First
  • Education
  • Faith & Family
  • Foreign Policy
  • Health Care
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • Opinion
  • Science
  • Second Amendment
  • TRENDING
  • US NEWS
  • US Politics
  • World News
Illinois Review

llinois Review LLC Editor-in-Chief Mark Vargas General Counsel Scott Kaspar Copyright © 2025 IR Media Corp., all rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • Checkout
  • Home
  • Home – mobile
  • Login/Register
  • Login/Register
  • My account
  • My Account-
  • My Account- – mobile

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Illinois News
  • Illinois Politics
  • US Politics
  • Health Care
  • US NEWS
  • America First
  • Opinion
  • TRENDING
  • Education
  • Foreign Policy
  • Second Amendment
  • Faith & Family
  • Science
  • World News

llinois Review LLC Editor-in-Chief Mark Vargas General Counsel Scott Kaspar Copyright © 2025 IR Media Corp., all rights reserved.

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?