The Pros and Cons of Marrying Young

by Erin Mantz

People are buzzing about McCain Vice Presidential running mate Sarah Palin’s teenage daughter, Bristol, who is seventeen and pregnant. Word is she plans to marry the baby’s father – and that part of the story seems to make people think there will be a happy ending. It sounds like the responsible thing to do. Or does it? When do “adult” decisions come back to bite one in the behind?

Sometimes, women marry young because a baby is on the way. Often times, marrying young – for any reason – is a grown-up decision that may prohibit women from knowing who they are without a husband once they hit their thirties. “Life happens,” McCain adviser Steve Schmidt stated to the press. 

Life is also…complicated. Throwing kids into the mix before hitting your 20s certainly makes it more difficult to make heads for tails of young love. To marry simply because of a child seems to be a recipe for disaster. In fact, according to a 2007 study, only 17 percent of pregnant teenagers wed. Are the remaining 83 percent left with a grim outlook?

Planned Parenthood states: “Teenage mothers are more likely to drop out of high school and live in poverty, and their children frequently experience health and developmental problems.” Even with the help of a husband, the stress of minimum-wage jobs, poverty, and raising a developmentally delayed child would put any marriage in the red zone.

And while some fall for their first or early loves because of pregnancy – and we have to commend those who try to do the right thing for their children – others do so hard and fast for another simple reason: love.