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USA Teens
"I don't know how I got pregnant - we only did it once!" "I was saving it for the right guy and when I was older, but suddenly he seemed like the man of my dreams and he told me he loved me, and I thought that if anything happened, we'd always be together and love would take care of everything".
Reducing teen pregnancy is important for many reasons:
- The teen pregnancy rate in the U.S. is twice that of any other industrialized nation.
- Teens are often less able to care for their children.
- Pregancy for teens is more dangerous and traumatic.
- Many teen pregancies end in abortions.
- Teen birth adds directly to population growth by reducing the time between generations.
- Most importantly, almost all teen pregancies are unintended.
ZPG May 2000
Baby Think It Over - the award-winning education program used for teen pregnancy prevention and parenting education.Birth Control Choices for Teens (including abstinence as well as 'sexually active' choices)- Planned Parenthood
There are one billion teenagers in the world today. Half are young women. Many will become pregnant. Many in certain countries are pushed into early marriage. Education of girls has proven to delay the child-bearing years, which is key to detracting from 'population momentum' - the phenomonen that occurs when large numbers of women enter their child-bearing years.Teen Birth Rates down in U.S. According to a report from the Health and Human Services, the teen birth rate fell 4% in 1997 and at total of 16% between 1991 and 1997. Out-of-wedlock births declined, 2 percent lower than in 1996. 20% of the decrease since the late 1980s is because of decreased sexual activity, and 80% is because of more effective contraceptive practice. Many sexually active teenagers are using the highly effective contraceptive implant Norplant, and injectable Depo-Provera.
US Teenage Pregnancy, Birth, and Abortion Rates
Factoids from Alan Guttmacher Institute - 1995 - US Teenagers
At age 15, 75% are virgins.
At age 17, 50% are virgins.
At age 20, 20% are virgins.U.S. teenagers have one of the highest pregnancy rates in the western world -- twice as high as rates found in England, New Zealand, and Canada
- A sexually active teenager who doesn't use contraception has a 90% chance of pregnancy within one year.
- In 1995, contraceptive use at first intercourse was 78%, with 2/3 of it condom use.
- 9 in 10 sexually active women and their partners use a contraceptive method, although not always consistently or correctly.
- Each year, almost one million teenage women - 11% of those aged 15–19 become pregnant, representing 20% of those who have had sexual intercourse. 18% of sexually active 15–17-year-olds become pregnant.
- Of teenage pregnancies, 14% end in miscarriages, 31% end in abortions, and 55% end in birth. 76% of teenage births occur outside of marriage.
- 13% of all US births are to teens.
- 1/4 of teenage mothers have a 2nd child within 2 years of their first birth.
- As many as 20% of teens using birth control pills forget to take them at least twice a month. Population Council 1999
Birth control pills are considered nearly 99% effective at preventing pregnancy when taken correctly. However, studies have shown up to 20% of teens using birth control pills forget to take them at least twice a month. Population Council- July 20, 1999
Women 15-19 Age at first
intercourseLive births
per 1,000Abortion rates
per 1,000United States 15.8 54.4 17.0 Netherlands 17.7 6.9 5.2 Germany 16.2 13.0 unknown France 16.8 9.1 7.9 Childbirth to unwed teenagers often results in less education and lower paying jobs for the moms, and foster homes and later jail for the offspring
California Encourages Males to Take Responsibility in Pregancy Prevention and Fatherhood in an advertising campaign by Governor Pete Wilson’s Partnership for Responsible Parenting. Buses and billboards carry the following slogans:
"Preventing Pregnancy is Up to Both of You"
"Being a Father Means Being There,"
"Sex With a Minor Can Get You a Whole New Look". (jail)
California has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the nation, with nearly 65,000 teens giving birth each yearHHS Fact Sheet -Preventing Teen Pregnancy After rising steadily from 1987 to 1991, the birth rate for teens aged 15-19 declined for the seventh straight year in 1998, from a high of 62.1 per 1,000 teens aged 15-19 in 1991 to 51.1 in 1998. The decline was 18% between 1991 and 1998. The birth rate for young teenagers 15-17 years fell 5% from 1997 to 1998, reaching a record low, 30.4 births per 1,000 teenagers. From 1991 to 1996, the pregnancy rate for 15- to 19-year-olds fell 15%.
Teen Births Drop to Lowest Rate in 60 Years Teens are more terrified than ever of sexually transmitted diseases, and they are putting off starting families to take jobs with good pay available in the booming economy . Their birth rates are the lowest in at least 60 years and both religious groups that push abstinence and advocates for contraceptives and sex education in schools are taking the credit. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that the birth rate for teenagers has fallen 20% in the last 10 years. Among girls ages 15 to 17, the rate fell 6% from 1998 to 28.7 births per 1,000 today. Among black teens, the rate dropped a dramatic 38% from 1991 to 1999. Clinton consequently urged Congress to approve $25 million for what are being called "second-chance homes," where teen parents can live and get job counseling and learn parenting skills. August 9, 2000 AP
Launched by HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala to "send a strong message to our children that postponing sexual activity, staying in school, and preparing to work are the right things to do." HHS-supported programs alone already reach at least 30 percent, or about 1,410, communities across the country. Special emphasis will be placed on encouraging abstinence, especially among 9- to 14-year-old girls, through HHS' new Girl Power! campaign. Recent declines in the teen birth rate, and indications of further declines in the teen pregnancy rate, suggest that the teen pregnancy prevention efforts taking place across the country are having a positive impact. Jan. 6, 1997- US Dept of Human and Health Services
National Strategy to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
The Challenge of Teenage Pregnancy ZPG Feb97"Nearly 60 percent of the six million pregnancies that occur annually in the United States are unintended, including eight in 10 pregnancies among teenagers". From Popline (Population Institute)
Teen Pregnancy Fact Sheet.Planned Parenthood (once on their home page, in the left index, click on "Fact Sheets", then on "Teen Pregnancy"
Alan Guttmacher Institute: "85% of teen pregnancies are unplanned, accounting for about 1/4 of all accidental pregnancies annually."
Alan Guttmacher Institute - Family Planning Perspectives (abstracts) Understanding the Impact of Effective Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Programs
"Each year, the U.S. government spends an estimated $34 billion on behalf of families in which the first birth occurred when the mother was a teenager."
"The children of teenage mothers are at greater risk of lower intellectual and academic achievement, social behavior problems, and problems of self-control than are children of older mothers, primarily due to the effects of single parenthood, lower maternal education, and larger family size."Centers for Disease Prevention and Control 95% of the 1 million teenage pregnancies are unintended and almost one third end in abortions. $48 billion could have been saved if each birth had been postponed until the mother was at least 20 years old.
Horizons Solutions - case studies of several prevention of teenage pregnancy programs.
Map of teen pregnancy community partnerships in the US
The National Campaign to Prevent Teenage Pregnancy
Worldwide At 1.05 billion, this is history's largest generation of young people between 15 and 24, and their number is rapidly expanding in rnany countries. It is critical that all societies address their education, health and employment needs. UNFPA
Children born to mothers below age 18 are 1 1/2 times more likely to die before age 5 than those born to mothers age 20-34. It is startling that three of every four African women become mothers while they are in their teens, and 40 percent of births in Africa are to women under age 17. Ned Grossnickle Wisconsin state chair of the Sierra Club Population Committee.
Adolescents, more than other age groups, are exposed to reproductive health risks.
Providing Quality Information:
- As the average age of marriage goes up worldwide, the period of sexual activity before marriage is increasing. But young people are often denied the information and the means they need to avoid unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
- Of the 260 million women aged 15-19 worldwide, about 11% (29 million) lack access to effective contraceptive protection. A majority of these (16.2 million) are married and say they want to delay childbirth; 9.8 million are unmarried and sexually active; 3.2 million are adolescents, both married and unmarried, who use traditional methods. (2)
- Half of all new HIV infections occur in people aged 15-24. The infection rates among young women are higher than among young men. Marginalized young people, such as street children, show higher infection rates than do better-off young people. (2)
(2)Alan Guttmacher Institute, Into a New World 1998; (3) UNFPA, State of the World Population 1998
- A survey of secondary school students in Kenya found that only one in three males and one in four females knew that contraceptive pills had to be taken by the woman and not by the man. Even fewer knew the pills had to be taken daily, not just before sex.(2)
- In Latin America, surveys show that 44 to 76% of the pregnancies of young unmarried women are unwanted. In Kenya, 74% of unmarried women aged 15-19 (and 47% of the married women) report their current pregnancy unwanted. (2)
- Many women suffering from an unwanted pregnancy seek abortion whether it is legal or not. Young women are more likely to get an unsafe abortion because they often lack the money and the information to get it done in a safe way (2)
- Sex education does not increase promiscuity Of 68 studies on family life and sex education in a scientific review 65 found no associated increases in sexual behavior. Of the 53 studies that evaluated specific interventions, 21 found that young people taking part in such programs had higher levels of abstinence, later start of sexual activity, higher use of contraceptives, fewer sexual partners and/or reduced rates of STDs and unplanned pregnancy. (3)
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