This grim headline on the high cost of teenage sex is the result of the analysis of the 2019 survey on multiple use housing. The survey reveals that the Dominican Republic was number one in all of Latin America in adolescent pregnancies and that these cost the state US$245 million a year or 0.29% of GDP.
The numbers show that 77 of every 1,000 women become pregnant when a young teenager. The study showed that 35 % of women between the ages of 20 and 49 were married or in a relationship before they were 18 years old, and 11% before they were 15 years old.
As a result, the National Council for Children and Adolescence has come up with a new program called “Take control, put it on hold” as a way to prevent and pay attention to early unions and pregnancies in adolescents. The program will use 40-second spots on radio, television and social media that will accent cases reflecting the consequences of these early unions. Child marriages are prohibited by law in the Dominican Republic.
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Listin Diario
17 April 2023