by ButterflyEffect

A recent study by Melissa Kearney, University of Maryland economics professor and director of the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project, showed a powerful connection linking 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom with a plunging birth rate for teenage women in the US. Through analysis of Nielsen ratings and corresponding social media data, Kearney and her research partner Phil Levine showed how viewers of 16 Pregnant and Teen Mom were more likely to search for information on birth control and abortion and more likely to see teen pregnancy as a negative outcome.