May 15th, 2003
Absent fathers linked to teenage pregnancies
Numerous studies show that girls reach puberty younger, become sexually active earlier and are more likely to get pregnant in their teens if their father was absent from the home from when they were young. But the usual explanation – that such families are under more stress – is now being challenged by a long-term study of girls in New Zealand and the US, the Western countries with the highest teen pregnancy rates.