Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health


•Each year, almost 750,000 U.S. women aged 15–19 become pregnant.[19] Two-thirds of all teen pregnancies occur among 18–19-year-olds.[19]
•Overall, 68 pregnancies occurred per 1,000 women aged 15–19 in 2008. The 2008 rate was a record low and represented a 42% decline from the peak rate of 117 per 1,000, which occurred in 1990.[19]
•The majority of the decline in teen pregnancy rates in the United States (86%) is due to teens’ improved contraceptive use; the rest is due to increased proportions of teens choosing to delay sexual activity.[21]
•Despite having declined, the U.S. teen pregnancy rate continues to be one of the highest in the developed world. It is more than twice as high as rates in Canada (28 per 1,000 women aged 15–19 in 2006) and Sweden (31 per 1,000).[22]
•In 2008, New Mexico had the highest teenage pregnancy rate (93 per 1,000); rates in Mississippi, Texas, Nevada and Arkansas followed. The lowest rates were in New Hampshire (33 per 1,000), Vermont, Minnesota, North Dakota and Massachusetts followed.[20]
•Eighty-two percent of teen pregnancies are unplanned; teens account for about one-fifth of all unintended pregnancies annually.[23]
•Fifty-nine percent of pregnancies among 15–19-year-olds in 2008 ended in birth, and 26% in abortion.[19]

FATHERHOOD

•Most teen males report that they would be very upset (46%) or a little upset (34%) if they got someone pregnant, while the remaining 20% report that they would be pleased or a little pleased.[5]
•Teen fatherhood rates vary considerably by race. In 2006, the rate among black males aged 15–19 who became fathers (34 per 1,000) was more than twice that among whites (15 per 1,000).[29]
•The rate of teen fatherhood declined 25% between 1990 and 2006, from 24 to 18 per 1,000 males aged 15–19. This decline was far more substantial among blacks than among whites (38% vs. 18%).[29]

Resource:

Facts on American Teens' Sexual and Reproductive Health. Retrieved on Feb 26, 2013 from the Guttmacher Institute Website: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/FB-ATSRH.html

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