Adolescent Pregnancy and Births

Tom Luster

Almost half a million adolescents had babies in the United States in 2001. Because of the consequences of early childbearing for both the young mothers and their children, teenage pregnancy is an important social issue (Maynard, 1997). In the following sections, information is provided about birthrates for adolescent females; sexual activity among adolescents; factors associated with sexual activity; adolescents' use of contraception; and other intervention approaches for reducing rates of teenage pregnancies. To examine trends over time, records are kept of the number of births per 1,000 females aged 15 to 19 in the United States and several other countries. These records show that births to teenage females have declined over the past decade in the United States. The number of births per 1,000 females aged 15 to 19 was 45.9 in 2001, compared with 62.1 per 1,000 in 1991. The birthrate has declined among all major ethnic groups in ...

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