Research :: Topics/Issues

Teens Living in Poverty and Unmarried Teens

Compared to teens from higher income families, poor and low-income teens are somewhat more likely to be sexually active and somewhat less likely to use contraceptives or to use contraception successfully. In addition, teenage mothers are much less likely than older women to receive timely prenatal care and are more likely to smoke during pregnancy. As a result of these and other factors, babies born to teenagers are more likely to be preterm and of low birth weight and are at greater risk of serious and long-term illness, of developmental delays, and of dying in the first year of life compared to infants of older mothers. Educational status and health care coverage also play a large part in this issue.

Online Resources

Youth Who Have Been Sexually Abused

Sexual violence against women and sexual abuse of children put many women and young people at extreme risk. One in four young girls and one in six young boys may experience sexual abuse or coercion at least once before reaching adulthood. This factor greatly contributes to early teen sexual activity, thus contributing to young people contracting an STI or becoming pregnant as a teen. Of those young women who have repeat pregnancies as teens, 2/3 report having been sexually abused.

South Carolina Resources for Child Sexual Abuse

Online Resources: Child Sexual Abuse

Homeless and Institutionalized Youth

Estimates of the number of runaway and homeless adolescents in the United States vary from hundreds of thousands to millions. Adolescents living on the street—many of them lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender—are at risk for STIs, as they often engage in survival sex (trading sex for food, shelter, or money), use substances, and frequently suffer sexual and physical assault.

Online Resources: Homelessness

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning Youth (GLBTQ)

Gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and those youth who question their sexual identity (GLBTQ) face enormous challenges growing up in a society where heterosexuality is often presented as the only acceptable sexual orientation. As a result of society’s lack of sensitivity in acknowledging this population of youth, many of them take part in high risk sexual activities. Fewer of these youth report using condoms during sex and as a result, they are more prone to contracting STIs and about twice as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to become pregnant.

South Carolina Resources for GLBTQ Youth

  • Safe Space -- c/o We Are Family
    PO Box 30734
    Charleston, SC 29417
    Phone: (843) 762-3275
    A peer support group meets on Tuesdays for gay, lesbian and questioning youth called Safe Space in the Charleston metropolitan area and an open door and telephone line every day for youth seeking advice or a friendly chat. Contact Safe Space for additional information including specific location and time.

  • Youth Out Loud
    Columbia, SC
    Phone: (803) 771-7713

  • Out Youth
    Columbia, SC
    Phone: (803) 251-0355

Online Resources: GLBTQ Youth