The Center for Disease Control recently announced in a new report that teen birth rates rose in 2006 for the first time in fifteen years. Significant increases were noted in 26 states.
The top ten states for teens 15-19 having babies and the rates per thousand:
1. Mississippi 68.4
2. New Mexico 64.1
3. Texas 63.1
4. Arkansas 62.3
5. Arizona 62.0
6. Oklahoma 59.6
7. Nevada 55.8
8. Tennessee 54.7
9. Kentucky 54.6
10. Georgia 54.2
The US average is 41.9 teen births per thousand. The lowest numbers are in New England where three states have birth rates at half the national average. New Hampshire’s birth rate was 17.9 per thousand.
“…Although pregnancy and birth rates among girls aged 15–19 years have declined 34% since 1991, birth rates increased for the first time in 2006 (from 40.5 per 1,000 women in this age group in 2005 to 41.9 in 2006).1 It is too early to tell whether this increase is a trend or a one-time fluctuation in teen birth rates…” CDC Adolescent Reproductive Health
Why are teen births up in over half of America? Some experts point to abstinence only education that does not teach pregnancy prevention. Conservatives say that there are still sex education courses and these classes encourage teen experimentation.
A variety of factors, including education, poverty, racial demographics and cultural attitudes contribute to teen pregnancy. Celebrity teen pregnancies doesn’t help, say some experts, because they make teen pregnancy look glamorous.
Why does it matter?
This is what the Center for Disease Control says: "When teens give birth, their future prospects and those of their children decline. Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school and more likely to live in poverty than other teens. Pregnant teens aged 15–19 years are less likely to receive prenatal care and gain appropriate weight and more likely to smoke than pregnant women aged 20 years or older. These factors are also associated with poor birth outcomes.
About one-third of girls in the United States get pregnant before age 20. In 2006, a total of 435,427 infants were born to mothers aged 15–19 years, a birth rate of 41.9 live births per 1,000 women in this age group. More than 80% of these births were unintended, meaning they occurred sooner than desired or were not wanted at any time…”
Half of the states are in the south (Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Georgia). The other half are in the west (New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and Oklahoma). The top ten states either have large immigrant populations – New Mexico, Texas, for example or they have traditionally high rates of poverty – Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi.
In this tough budget climate, there will be little will on the part of strapped legislatures to address this issue. The philosophical differences between conservatives and progressives are too stark for a reasoned, rational, bipartisan approach to limiting the number of children having children. |
