Teen pregnancy. It was a fairly commonplace occurrence back in the 'old days', when 12 and 13 year olds were married off and made to have children. Now, it's something that will get you, in many ways, ostracized from normal society. Because there are many issues surrounding this topic, I will focus on them one at a time. There are also a number of charged political issues surrounding this topic, most notably the idea that teenagers can make their own medical decisions with regard to reproductive health, as well as the availability and use of contraception and abortion, particularly in the teenage population. I will do my best to limit my bias in those topics, but discussing them at all presents a bias on its own, so I can't make every piece completely unbiased.
For today, we'll examine the trends in teenage births (in the US).
The data that contains the most time is that of the National Vital Statistics Reports, covering the time period from 1940 to 2000. During this time period, we reached a peak of teen births in 1957, with a rate of 96.3 per 1,000 births. That means for every 1,000 babies more in 1957, roughly 96 of them were born to girls aged 15-19. Up until 1965 or so, we were still in the baby boom--the same population that has now grown up and is currently entering or in retirement. The fact that 1957 was the peak indicates that the desire to have children was present even in the teenagers of the era, who were too young to participate in the war itself.
A few more statistics that might be relevant: in 1950, the marriage rate in the US was 11.1%; in 1960, it was down to 8.5%. I don't have the numbers for the individual years, but the peak of births may very well have corresponded with a drop in marriage rates (fewer people getting married --> fewer people having children in future). Of course, that data does not break it down into teens vs. older women, so it may not be relevant at all. In addition, it should be noted that a 'soft peak' in the overall birth rate was seen in 1957 as well (see 1958 data, page 76), as 1958 began the decline of the overall birth rate as well.
After 1957, there was a steep decline in teen births, which was also associated with an increase in the percentage of these births to unmarried women. That is, prior to 1957, only 10% or so of births to women 15-19 were to unmarried women (so in 1957, 10 per 1000 babies was to an unwed teen). After 1957, as the birth rate decreased, the number of those to unmarried women increased. By the early 1980s, the teen birth rate was about 50 per 1,000 births, and half of them were to unmarried women (that is, roughly 25 per 1,000 babies born in the early 80s were to unwed teens).
In the late 1980s, we experienced an increase in the rate of teen births, which hit another peak in 1991 at 61.8 per 1000 births. Since 1991, though, teen birth rates have been declining, reaching an all-time low of 29.4 in 2012 (the most recent data available). Meanwhile, during that same period, overall births in the US have remained roughly the same, between 60 and 70 births per 1000 women since the mid-70s.
One more thing that is important to note; these statistics all refer to rates, not hard numbers. However, as the numbers from 2012 point out, we also experienced the lowest number of babies born to teen mothers in 2012 since the end of WWII. The year 1970 was the highest for the number of babies, at 644,708; for 2012, only 305,420 babies were born to girls aged 15-19.
However, note that all these statistics refer to live births by teenage mothers during the time period. It does not include abortions, miscarriages, or still-births. But those are a discussion for another blog.
So next time someone tells you that teen pregnancy is out of hand, it's worth it to refer to these statistics and point out that teen birth rates have been declining since 1991. The reason is likely multifactorial, and, once again, is a discussion for another blog.
Until next week!
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