Editorial: State’s low teen birthrate bodes well for economic mobility

Economic mobility in the United States has remained essentially flat over the past 50 years, but where someone grows up matters, according to the latest research.

Harvard Economics Professor Raj Chetty led a study that looked at regional variation by asking this question: What are the chances that a child born into a family in the lowest quartile (bottom 25 percent of income earners) can reach the top quartile in adulthood?

First, the overall probability this will occur in the United States is lower than in other nations such as Canada, the United Kingdom and Denmark. Overall, it’s 7.5 percent in the U.S. and 13.5 percent in Canada. That’s right, the “American Dream” is almost twice as easy to achieve up north.

However, mobility within the U.S. varies greatly, depending on location and other factors such as good schools, family structure and strong family planning services. The latter is critically important for girls.

For the most part, the Northwest has above-average mobility. The Deep South is quicksand.

But even within the Northwest there is variation. A child in a poor Spokane County family would have a better shot at moving up than in 75 percent of other U.S. counties. The prospects for such a child in Kootenai County are almost the reverse: The odds are better in 73 percent of other counties.

Many factors affect economic mobility. The one that often sidetracks girls is whether they become teenage mothers. The teen birthrate in the United States has been in steady decline for nearly three decades, but it still tops most industrialized nations. About one-half of all U.S. pregnancies are unintended, so there is plenty of room for improvement.

As with mobility, there is wide variation among the states. Massachusetts has the lowest teen birthrate – 12.1 per 1,000 girls between the ages of 15 and 19. Arkansas has the highest rate, a stunning 43.5 per 1,000, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unwanted Pregnancy. Washington is ranked 13th lowest, at 20.5, and Idaho is 27th, at 25.7.

The teen birthrate is high throughout the South, a region where upward mobility for girls is poor. “Family values” is preached from pulpits, but too many girls are trapped early in life. Their kids stand longer odds of succeeding, too.

The South is also where comprehensive sex education (as opposed to “abstinence only”) is frowned upon. Access to contraception and medical care in general is also narrower. Most southern states did not accept expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, so many young people are missing out on family planning services. Even with Medicaid, many rural areas don’t have convenient access to services. As a result, rural areas have higher teen birthrates.

By embracing sex education and making services available, Washington has maintained a relatively low teen birthrate. That may be the key to upward mobility for girls and for a state that needs their best, whatever they decide that may be.