More Facts
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3 in 10 teens get pregnant at least one before the age of 20 (750000 eh yr)
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- Nearly 80% of fathers born to teen mothers do not marry thier child’s mother
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- 20% 15-17 yr olds admit to doing sexual things while being Druck or HIgh. they admit that they wouldn’t have done if they were sober
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- 75% of teens say it is not embarrassing for teens to admit they are virgins
- In 2002, an estimated 757,000 pregnancies among teenagers ages 15–19 resulted in 425,000 live births, 215,000 induced abortions, and 117,000 fetal losses.
- The estimated pregnancy rate for young teenagers ages 15–17 fell from 77.1 per 1,000 in 1990 to 44.4 per 1,000 in 2002, a 42% drop.
- The rate for older teenagers declined more modestly, falling 25% from 167.7 per 1,000 in 1990 to 125.0 per 1,000 in 2002.
- Pregnancy rates for both age groups in 2002 are record lows for the nation since these rates began being collected in 1976 .
To View this Resource: www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/teenpreg1990-2002/teenpreg1990-2002.htm
- Among black women ages 15–19, the nationwide pregnancy rate fell by 40% between 1990 and 2002.
- Among white women ages 15–19, the nationwide pregnancy rate fell by 34% between 1990 and 2002.
- Among Hispanic women ages 15–19, the pregnancy rate increased slightly from 1991–1992, but by 2002 was 19% lower than the 1990 rate.
To View this Resource: www.guttmacher.org/pubs/2006/09/12/USTPstats.pdf
- Black women have the highest teen pregnancy rate (134 per 1,000 women ages 15–19), followed by Hispanics (131 per 1,000) and non-Hispanic whites (48 per 1,000).
- The pregnancy rate among black teens decreased 40% between 1990 and 2000 compared to an overall national decline in teen pregnancy rate of 36%.
To View this Resource: www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_ATSRH.html
The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $7 billion annually.
The fact that just under 1/3 of all girls in the United States will get pregnant in their teenage years is a sobering thought. Obviously, teen pregnancy is a problem in the United States. And the following statistics back that up:
- Every year around 750,000 teenagers will get pregnant.
- Depending on the state, teenage birth rates are incredibly different. Nevada has the highest rate: 113 per 1000 and North Dakota the lowest 42 per 1000.
- Unmarried teenagers having children account for 24 percent of all unmarried expectant mothers.
- More than 2/3 of all teenagers who have a baby will not graduate from high school.
- Billions of dollars are spent taking care of teenage mothers and their children and they are more likely to be in the poverty bracket. On the flip side, millions of dollars are spent in prevention programs.
The good news is that teen births have dropped by almost a third since the beginning of the 1990s. With pregnancy prevention programs and more understanding and teaching about safe sex, this number will hopefully drop even more. Here are a few other statistics that hopefully point to even better prevention rates in the years to come:
- In 2002 the abortion rate among teenager mother was 50 percent lower than its high point in 1988.
- Among black teenagers, the pregnancy rate dropped around 40 percent since 1990.
- Among Hispanic teenagers the pregnancy rate dropped around 19 percent since 1990.
- Among white teenagers, the pregnancy rate dropped around 34 percent since 1990.
So while teenager pregnancies are dropping, it is still a constant problem as there are more and more kids who enter their teenager years each year. Teenager pregnancy programs are important to as the above statistics are showing that these programs yield good results. These programs should be continually studied to make sure they are up-to-date and working in the education of teenagers on the problems of teenager pregnancy.
One way of making sure to keep the programs fresh is to talk with the teenagers themselves, asking what they think about sex and how it is portrayed in their school life, by their friends, in their families, and in the media. How much do each of these contribute to how a teenager views sex? Parents and educators are in a position to somewhat monitor how sex and especially unsafe sex is being digested by the teenagers today. As more questions are answered and prevention programs initiated and/or updated, hopefully these statistics can continually to fall.
As mentioned above, billions of dollars are spent taking care of teenage mothers and their children while only millions are needed to provide good prevention program. For more information on teenage pregnancy prevention, see the Preventing Teenage Pregnancy article on this site.
