Building strong families

Young parents need help finding their way

The good news is that births to teenage mothers have been falling significantly in some communities in recent years.

But there are still too many children being born to extremely young adult parents — classified as those 18 to 24 — who usually lack the financial wherewithal to raise children.

Often they also lack the knowledge and emotional discipline needed to parent as well.

A new study by the respected Annie E. Casey Foundation’s “Kids Count” project found there were 144,000 such children in Ohio and 96,000 in Pennsylvania last year. In Ohio, 73 percent lived in low-income households. In Pennsylvania, 65 percent did.

Few young adults, whether parents or not, have reached their full earning potential. But when they take on parental responsibilities too early, the odds increase that they never will. The study found that nearly one in five young parents lacked a high school diploma, and that nearly two out of five lacked jobs.

It might sound like “bleeding heart liberalism” to some to offer practical and extensive help for these young families — from GEDs, to teaching them how to manage money, to job training and placement, to child care. But the truth is that such help is a matter of common welfare — the only way to break the poverty cycle.

Children’s brains grow their fastest from birth to age 3, and it would be a commonsense investment in all of our futures to help them — and their parents — to become productive citizens able to contribute to their state and society.

We should still encourage young people to postpone parenting until they are ready. But we have to deal with what is and help them make the best of the lives they find themselves living.