The potential of including the UK in comparisons with other European countries in research on teenage pregnancy

This article is a response to Arai (2003) ‘British policy on teenage pregnancy and childbearing: The limitations of comparisons with other European countries’ (Critical Social Policy 23: 89–102). It discusses the arguments put forward by Arai there that cross-cultural comparisons in the area of teenage pregnancy are often problematic due to the unique demographics of the UK. While Arai’s considerations are important for cross-cultural research, they need to be more sensitive to the differences between countries included in these comparisons. Our article illustrates the potential value of cross-cultural research, using Germany as an exam- ple, and concludes that, as long as countries for such comparisons are cho- sen carefully, the merit of cross-cultural research on topics such as teenage pregnancy far exceeds its limitations.