Poverty and birth rates share a dialogue, particularly for Hispanics. Families with children increasingly fall victim to poverty, an epidemic which mounted during the recession; caused by limited access to jobs, low wages, under-education, and high pregnancy rates. This directly relates to Latinas, as they have the highest rate of teen parenthood compared to other major racial or ethnic group in the country.

Twenty-six percent of Latinas become mothers by the age of 19, and the rate that Hispanic families with children suffer poverty is at rate of 25 percent. This suggests that reducing the teen birth rate of Latinas would act as a "reduction strategy" to lower poverty rates for the entire group, according to a study that was conducted by Child Trends.

The Child Trends report debunked the wild notion that Hispanic teens anticipate teen pregnancy; rather, they offered that most do not want to be young parents, but lack the proper information regarding using contraception purposefully, and its correlation to success in the future. This is exactly why it's important to offer information, literature, and workshops regarding sex education, education, and health; and, also that information needs to be discussed at home.

"These teens understand the value of education and the impact that having children would have on their being able to complete school," said Kristin Anderson Moore, senior scholar at Child Trends and a leader of the study. "A critical focus for programs needs to be getting teens to align their sexual and contraceptive behavior with their educational and life goals."

Over the last 13 years, the Hispanic population in the U.S. has increased by 43 percent, which accounts for more than half of the total population growth. A number of things can account for this influx, but one of those things is certainly teen pregnancy. Child Trend's decision to do this research was prompted by a desire to offer practitioners help in developing evidence-based strategies for minimizing teen childbearing, thusly, slashing poverty. Lina Guzman, a Child Trend study author, indicated that due to the size of the U.S. Hispanic population, the poverty reduction could be substantial.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicated that Hispanic birth rates plummeted by 34 percent between 2007 and 2011; nonetheless, 40 percent of Latinas become pregnant before the age of 20.

Conversations about sex must be sparked in order to discourage young childbearing. Teens who speak openly about sex with their parents are more like to use contraception when they have sex, and they tend to be older when they have it. Information and conversation announced in English and Spanish could mean that Hispanic teens will become less apprehensive about retrieving that information, and about using contraception, which isn't utilized enough among Hispanic teens.