Teenage pregnancy is a major social problem in the Dominican Republic. The country has one of the highest child pregnancy rates in the world. The government is carrying out campaigns with the collaboration of Unicef to create an awareness of the negative impact of the pregnancies. The effort seems to be working somewhat.
El Dia reports that National Statistics Office reveal in 2022 the number of teen pregnancies was 25,461. This compares to 27,476 in 2021, or 2,015 fewer cases, for a 19.74% decline.
The provinces with the highest incidence of pregnancies under 19 years of age are Elías Piña, the most affected, followed by Peravia (Baní), María Trinidad Sánchez (Nagua) and San Juan de la Maguana. In addition, San Cristóbal, Pedernales, Puerto Plata, El Seibo, Dajabón and San Pedro Macorís followed in most cases.
However, at the absolute level, the highest number of adolescent pregnancies were registered in Santo Domingo province with 5,359 and in the National District with a total of 2,876, making up Greater Santo Domingo.
There continues to be a marked age difference between the mother and the father in cases of teenage pregnancies. When comparing the ages of the mother with those of the father, only 1,606 of the adolescents had become pregnant by other young people between 15 and 19 years of age.
The ONE says that the age difference usually exceeds 10 years, but there are cases where the difference is 30 years or more. According to statistics, four adolescents under 15 years of age and 94 adolescents between 15 and 19 years of age had children by men 50 years of age or older. While 31 minors under 15 and 2,369 between 15 and 19 had children with men between 30 and 49 years of age.
Child marriage or cohabitation is banned by law in the Dominican Republic.
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El Dia
28 June 2023