back in that '50s ... I can remember several young unmarried girls who got pregnant. One was 13. The impression I have is that it was much less common then. The illegitmate birth rate then was a few per cent; now it's about 30%.
Remember, though, that a lot of 'illegitimate' births (now, there's an old term) will not be to teenagers; most - here at least - are between 20- or 30-something couples who are not married. Some are in perfectly steady relationships - some aren't - but this isn't the same issue as teenage (still less under-age) pregnancy.
Over here it's accepted very widely that marriage is no longer 'required' for children... it's still recommended, and often desired.
Marriage was historically mainly for the moneyed classes - few really knew or cared what the peasants/serfs did, hence there were a lot of rather casual 'marriages' of the 'share a hearth, a meal, a bed' type. It was only in the 18th century or so that formal marriage for all classes really spread... and at that time, not only was hypocrisy rampant (the upper classes especially were notorious for marrying for advantage, then sleeping around) but life expectancy was half today's. So a marriage at 20 might well last 'only' 20 years.
One last point: until ~1900, in this country, it was legal (though rare) for a boy to marry at 14 - and a girl, at 12.
Which would imply that teenage sex was as common then as now, and maybe more accepted... |
