There are many reasons for teenage pregnancies to be an issue for society. In some cultures, most teenage pregnancies are due to marriage happening at a young age. In most Western countries, it is more a sign of socio-economic status, as teenagers from low income backgrounds have a much higher risk of becoming pregnant than those in higher income families.
Most of the Western world sees teenage pregnancy as a problem which needs to be looked into – an attitude which is slowly becoming more popular in the developing world, too. In that spirit, here’s a list of the ten countries which have the most teenage pregnancies.

The teenage pregnancy rate in Ireland is 18.7 per 1000 of population.

The teenage pregnancy rate in Poland is 18.7 per 1000 of population.

The teenage pregnancy rate in Canada is 20.2 per 1000 of population.

The teenage pregnancy rate in Portugal is 21.2 per 1000 of population.

The teenage pregnancy rate in Iceland is 24.7 per 1000 of population.

The teenage pregnancy rate in Hungary is 26.5 per 1000 of population.

The teenage pregnancy rate in Slovakia is 26.9 per 1000 of population.

The teenage pregnancy rate in New Zealand is 29.8 per 1000 of population.

The teenage pregnancy rate in the United Kingdom is 30.8 per 1000 of population.

The teenage pregnancy rate in the United States is 52.1 per 1000 of population.
You will notice that these are all Western countries. This is due to the fact that in countries where teenage pregnancy is the result of a culture where young marriages are common, the statistics are seldom gathered, and even more rarely published.
The countries with the most teenage pregnancies on this list invariably see it as a considerable problem, both for the mother, the child, and the taxpayer. There is some evidence for this, as studies show that younger mothers usually drop out of school earlier, leaving with few or no qualifications, which prevents them from achieving the higher paid jobs. They are also more likely to be single parents, as the stresses of having children do not aid long-term stable relationships – particularly when the usual problems of puberty are added.
One of the causes of the high rates in most of these countries is due to the fact that the available media has started to portray sex in a more open context. However, thanks to a range of attempts from government and society as a whole, the average age of the first sexual contact is dropping, as it is less socially acceptable.
In short, the likelihood that teenagers become pregnant is highly correlated by multiple risks factors. These include having grown up in a single parent family, living in poverty or a poor neighborhood, having a low attachment to poverty at school, and having parents with a low educational achievement.
Preparing young people to live in a sexualised society needs to be more than just about contraception. Particularly as a reasonably high percentage of the teenage pregnancies in most developed nations have been proved to be the result of having sex forced upon the mother. Therefore sex and relationship education must be based on respect and mutuality, regardless of whether or not these are located within the religious or cultural frameworks of the society as a whole.
In spite of the high incidence of teenage pregnancy in the above nations, the rates are falling, thanks to a higher availability of contraception, along with numerous campaigns aimed at encouraging teenagers to postpone intercourse, and providing education to help teenagers who do become sexually active to avoid pregnancy and its associated problems.
Making contraception readily available – along with making getting hold of the contraception less of an embarrassment for those responsible for it – all helps to reduce the incidence of pregnancy in teenagers, as does encouraging all children to have a stake in their education through the provision of non academic based qualifications and pathways for those who do not learn best through reading and writing. It is a problem most of the developed world is slowly coming to terms with.