Programs like True Love Waits, which challenge young people to abstain from sexual activity until marriage, dramatically reduce the rate of out-of-wedlock births, according to a new study released by the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.
"Some 1.35 million children are born out of wedlock annually, representing roughly one-third of all births in the United States"
Young women who take a virginity pledge are at least 40 percent less likely to have a child out of wedlock and 12 times more likely to be virgins when they marry, compared to young women who do not make such a pledge, the study revealed.
"Children raised by single parents are seven times more likely to live in poverty than are children raised in intact homes, and they are much more likely to be dependent on welfare programs and to suffer from a wide range of other social maladies."
When the findings were adjusted for differences in race, income, family structure, religiosity and other background conditions, the rate of out-of- wedlock births dropped 50 percent -- 29 percent of young women who had not made an abstinence pledge had a child out of wedlock, contrasted with only about 14 percent of young women who had made a pledge.
"Young people who make deliberate public pledges to remain virgins are likely to substantially delay the initiation of sexual activity, have fewer sexual partners and are more likely to marry"
An earlier set of findings from the project, released in 2001, concluded that teens who make abstinence pledges delay having sex a year and a half longer on average than those who do not pledge abstinence.
