News and Stories: Want To Reduce Poverty? Family Planning Is Key.

Betty Cockrum, President & CEO

Every year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation shares important information with us through its "Kids Count" report.

Every year, we learn much about Indiana's children, some of which is painful to hear.

One of the jarring statistics from the most recent Kids Count report is that one in five Hoosier children was living in poverty in 2009. To be exact, 19.9 percent of kids were living in poverty, and that's a figure that's gone up every year since 2005.

Another report showed that more than one-quarter of Indiana households with children didn't always have enough money to buy the food they needed in 2008 and 2009. That's according to the Food Research and Action Center, which also noted that Indiana ranked 19th in the United States for food hardship.

We can try to address child poverty and food hardship, and other similarly troubling situations for our children, in all sorts of ways. I have some suggestions that may not be among the first things that come to mind: family planning, comprehensive sex education and birth control -- all services offered by Planned Parenthood of Indiana.

One of the keys to ensuring that our children have the full, rich lives they deserve is by teaching, on a comprehensive basis, the importance of family planning.

Family planning means deciding whether or not to have children, when to have them, and how many to have. It includes discussions of "child spacing," which outlines why it's best to plan -- for emotional, financial and health reasons -- when to have your first child, and if and when to have your next.

Comprehensive sex education also plays a key role in bettering children's lives. Research shows that young people who receive accurate and timely information from their parents about sexuality and sexual health are more likely to delay sex, and to protect themselves from unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases when they do become sexually active. Fewer pregnant teens means fewer unprepared parents who lack the means to support a child's financial needs.

With 31 teenagers getting pregnant every day in Indiana, there's reason to believe our young people have not been given adequate instruction to protect themselves when they're becoming sexually active. Comprehensive sex education would definitely make a difference in the lives of Indiana's high school students, half of whom say they've had at least one sexual experience.

Of course, access to contraception is crucial, because unplanned pregnancies place unexpected burdens on families. And the responsibility of paying for health care, clothing, food, and housing doesn't just fall on young parents, it falls on the entire community. In Indiana, the most recent statistics show that teen pregnancies cost taxpayers nearly $250 million.

Whether we're talking about single mothers, large families, teenagers or women thinking about having their first child, family planning, comprehensive sex education and birth control can help lead to healthier lives for Indiana's children.

One child living in poverty or going hungry is one too many.

This column appeared as an op-ed in the Indianapolis Star on September 30, 2011.