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Statistics on Adolescent Pregnancy |
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 Approximately One Million teens become pregnant each year in the United States. This results in
approximately 520,000 births, 405,000
abortions
& 80,000 miscarriages. More than ten percent of this total is in the State of Ca
(approx 61,000 in 1997), and ten percent of the
California total (approximately 4800 births) is in Orange County. [1] [2] [9] |
| California has the
second highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation. One hundred
twenty-five pregnancies per 1000 women aged 15-19 occurred in 1997.
The national rate is ninety-seven per 1000 women. [22] |
| Although the rate of increase in both percentage and absolute numbers
rose dramatically in the 1970s &1980s, data from this decade would indicate that the numbers have stabilized or dropped slightly. [2] |
| Teen Pregnancy, Birth and Abortion Rates | |
|---|---|
| Pregnancies per 1,000 Teenage Girls  | Abortions/Births per 1,000 Teenage Girls  |
| Source: National Center for Health Statistics, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, Centers for Disease Control. | |
| Over forty percent of adolescents will become pregnant before reaching age twenty(41 percent of whites and 63 percent of nonwhites). By age 18, one in four young women(24 percent) will have a pregnancy. [3] |
| Of the total number of teen pregnancies, approximately half occur with eighteen & nineteen year olds.[2] |
| The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate of any developed country. It is twice as high as England, France & Canada, three times as high as Sweden and four times as high as The Netherlands.[4] |
| Teenage Pregnancy, Birth & Abortion Rates
Click for Detailed Information | |||
| Year | Pregnancy (per thousand) | Abortion (per thousand) | Birth (per thousand) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | NA | NA | 15.3 |
| 1965 | NA | NA | 16.7 |
| 1970 | NA | NA | 22.4 |
| 1972 | 49.4 | 19.9 | 22.8 |
| 1975 | 63.1 | 32.1 | 23.9 |
| 1980 | 78.3 | 43.4 | 27.6 |
| 1985 | 89.6 | 45.9 | 31.6 |
| 1988 | 93.0 | 44.4 | 36.8 |
| 1990 | 99.2 | 43.8 | 42.5 |
| National Center for Health Statistics, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, Centers for Disease Control. | |||
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Nearly one in five teenagers who experience a premarital pregnancy will get pregnant again within a year.
Within two years, more than 31 percent will have a repeat pregnancy. One
quarter of births to teen mothers in Ca. represents a repeat birth during
the teen years.[5] [3] |
| Although not specifically related to teens, the increase of births to unmarried women has increased
dramatically and this obviously contributes to the number of single parents households. Since 1960, births to
unmarried women has increased more than 400 percent. In 1960, only 5.3 percent of all births were out of wedlock. By 1990, this had increased to 28.0. The percentage
of births is disproportionately higher to educationally & economically disadvantaged
mothers. [6] |
| Although it is not inevitable, the daughters of teen mothers are likely to become pregnant as teens. [8]
It is estimated that as high as 75% of pregnant teens had mothers who were also pregnant while as an adolescent. |
| The cost to our government for teen pregnancy is estimated by several different agencies. Various estimates put it as high as $50,000,000,000 annually,
while the low side estimate is a staggering $25,000,000,000. This does not consider the cost of factors other than direct payments. Education, food subsidies, incarceration, WIC and other programs are
not included, nor the costs in time and actual money contributed by charitable organizations. [10] |
| Approximately $5 -
$7 billion in state and federal money is spent each year on services related
to teen parents.[23] |
| 46% of single mothers receive public assistance. [11] |
| Over 50% of the national AFDC budget is related to adolescent pregnancy. [12]
Of 860,016 women receiving AFDC in Ca in 1996, 236,016 gave birth to
their first child in their teen years.[24] |
|
| Of prison inmates between 15 & 19 years of age, 90% are products of an adolescent pregnancy. [14] |
| Of the top ten disciplinary problems confronting public school teachers, pregnancy is third. |
| School teachers rate top disciplinary problems | |
| 1940 | 1990 |
|
|
| US News and World Report Basic Data: Congressional Quarter Researcher. | |
| Three in ten teen mothers go on welfare
within three years of the birth of their first child. [15] |
| Approximately 70 percent of all pregnant adolescents do not receive adequate prenatal care, when in reality, this is the group that needs the most care. [16] |
| The health risks to the baby are substantially greater. Nine percent of teen moths have low
birth weight babies. Low birth weight babies are 40 times more likely to die in their first month of life than normal weight babies. [17] |
| The same risk
factors that contribute to teen pregnancy also contribute to a high
incidence of risk for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted
diseases. See
facts on STDs. |
| Teens too often have poor eating habits, and may smoke, drink alcohol and take drugs, increasing the risk
that their babies will be born with health problems. Pregnant teens are least likely of all maternal ages to get early and regular care. A teenage mother is more at risk of pregnancy
complications such as premature or prolonged labor, anemia and
high blood pressure. The risks are even greater for teens who are less than 15 years old. [18] [1] |
| Teenage Suicide Rates |
|---|
Suicides per 100,000 15-24 Year Olds |
| Source: National Center for Health Statistics. |
| Any correlation between the increased rate of teen suicide (300 percent increase since 1960) may not be exist. However, it is obvious
that the influences experienced by today's teens manifest themselves in the list of current problems. The severity and number of problems is apparent - the solutions are far less apparent. |
| One in three teen mothers drops out of high school. Teens may not have developed good parenting skills, or have social support systems to help them
deal with the stress of raising an infant. [19] Pregnancy
and parenting is cited as a major reason for females dropping out of
school. |
| Eighty percent of
females who become mothers before the age of eighteen don't finish high
school and forty percent of females who give birth by age fifteen don't
complete 8th grade. [21] |
| More than nine in ten teens who give birth keep their babies. Very few consider the positive aspects of adoption. It seems obvious that
all agencies need to do more to promote the value of adoption. [20] |
| None of these data address yet another victim of teen pregnancy. Hard statistics are difficult to locate, but information from
various agencies, including Mary's Shelter, indicate that the father is nearly always older than the mother. Our data show that the
younger the birth mother, the greater the
age difference between herself and the father. In fact, many of these fathers are guilty of statutory rape, and yet most states do very little
to prosecute. [21] The seldom discussed fact is that a percentage of the fathers accept the reality of what they have helped create
at yet there are no programs to address their needs are assist them in facing their future in a responsible
manner. |
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[1] National Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Report(9 Sept 1993). The Alan Guttmacher Institute, Centers for Disease Control. Besharov, Douglas & Gardiner, Karen, "Teen Sex," The American Enterprise, January/February 1993. |
[2] CDC Natality & Teenage Pregnancy Reports, 21 September 1995,http://www.cdc.gov/nchsww/releases/nr44_3s.htm |
[3] National Research Council. Risking the Future: Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy and Childbearing. Cheryl D. Hayes, editor, Washington, D. C. National Academy Press, 1987. |
[4] CDC. Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report. (1 October 1993)., Jones, E.F., Forest, J.D., et al, "Teenage Pregnancy in Developed Countries: Determinants and Policy Implications," 1985. |
[5] National Research Council. Risking the Future: Adolescent Sexuality, Pregnancy and Childbearing. Cheryl D. Hayes, editor, Washington, D. C. National Academy Press, 1987. |
[6] National Center for Health Statistics. http://www.ugcs.caltech...v/lci/lci_unmarried.html |
[7] The Center for Population Options. Washington, D.C.. 1992. |
[8] Furstenberg, F.F., Levine, J.A. and Brooks-Gunn, J., "The Children of Teenage Mothers: Patterns of Early Childbearing in Two Generations," 1990. |
[9] Data provided by County of Orange, CA for year 1995. |
[10] Campaign for Our Children. http://www.cfoc.org/statscost.html The Center for Population Options. Washington, D.C.. 1992. Sex and America's Teenagers. The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994 |
[11] Technical Analysis Paper No. 42, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Income |
[12] Sex and America's Teenagers. The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994. |
[13] Based on the national low side estimate of $25B & births in Orange County in 1995. |
[14] Campaign for Our Children. http://www.cfoc.org/statscost.html |
[15] Kids Count Missouri, http://oseda.missouri.edu....ts/teenpreg/econcst.html |
[16] Teen Pregnancy/Maternal & Neonatal Health http:/web.bu.edu/cohis/teenpreg/teen/howmany.htm |
[17] March of Dimes - Birth Defects Foundation. P.O. 1657, Wilkes-Barre, PA. 18703. 19 May 1994. |
[18] ACOG. "Special Needs of Pregnant Teens." September 1993. |
[19] March of Dimes - Birth Defects Foundation. P.O. 1657, Wilkes-Barre, PA. 18703. 19 May 1994. |
| [20] National Committee for Adoption. Adoption Factbook: U.S. Data, Issues, Regulations, and Resources. Washington, D.C.: National Committee for Adoption, June 1989. |
| [21] California Commission on the Status of Women - 1993. |
| [22] Alan Guttmacher Institute - 1999. |
| [23] California Legislative Analyst - 1995. |
| [24] AFDC Characteristics Survey, Legislative Analyst, October 1996. |
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