Teen Pregnancy                                                            Esta página en Español

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.¹ More than 80% of these births were unintended, meaning they occurred sooner than desired or were not wanted at any time.² 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.

Teen Pregnancy fact sheet is available in English (PDF 96-KB) and en Español (PDF 113-KB).

For state-by-state data see National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.*

Health Disparities

Major disparities exist in pregnancy, birth, sexual transmitted diseases (STDs), and HIV rates. In 2005, Washington, D.C., had the highest teen birth rate in the country (63.4 per 1,000), and states Texas and New Mexico with the highest rates (61.6 each); New Hampshire had the lowest teen birth rate (17.9).⁴ In 2006, the overall birth rate for 15– to 19– year-old females was 41.9, but—

• the rate was 83 among Hispanics (twice the overall rate),
• 63.7 among non-Hispanic blacks (however, blacks have a slightly higher teen pregnancy rate than Hispanics),
• 54.7 among American Indian or Alaska Natives, and
• 26.6 among non-Hispanic whites.

Sixty-nine percent of HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed in 13– to 19– year-olds in 2005 were among black youth, although only 17% of youth in the 33 reporting states were black. Among male youth aged 13–24 years, the vast majority (over 75%) of HIV/AIDS cases involve transmission of the virus through male-to-male sexual contact.⁵ Among females aged 13–24, the main route of HIV/AIDS transmission is through high-risk heterosexual contact (85% of cases).⁵  CDC’s 2006 STD Surveillance Report show higher rates of all STDs among minority racial and ethnic populations when compared to whites, with the exception of Asians/Pacific Islanders. While some of these disparities may be because of increased testing and reporting among some populations; such as, public health clinics, much work remains to improve health promotion and prevention efforts among youth and communities facing these disparities in adolescent reproductive health.

For more information see Health Disparities in HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STDs, and TB.

What More Needs to be Done?

International comparisons show that the United States could do much better in improving teen pregnancy and birth rates. U.S. teen pregnancy and teen birth rates are the second highest among 46 countries in the developed world.³ These data show that U.S. teens’ sexual behavior is similar to teens of other developed countries in terms of when they start to have sex and how often they are having it. Yet, U.S. teens are less likely to use contraception or to consistently use more effective methods of contraception when compared to the teens of several other developed countries.⁶ Recent data show that 77% of the decline in teen pregnancy rates among U.S. teens aged 15–17 years is because teens have increased their use of contraception and 23% of the decline is because teens are having less sex.⁷ Among older U.S. teens, 18– to 19–  years-old, these data show that all the reduction in pregnancy risk was related to increased contraceptive use.⁷ Organizations such as Advocates for Youth* and the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy* have identified effective programs to promote healthy decision-making among teenagers; such as, reducing numbers of partners, delaying initiation of sex, and increasing contraception and condom use. Although this is encouraging, much work remains to identify additional innovative interventions that address the social, cultural, and environmental influences on teen pregnancy. There is also a need to find better ways of disseminating evidence-based approaches to teen pregnancy prevention, so that effective interventions are more widely used.

More on effective programs:

Promoting Science-Based Approaches to Prevent Teen Pregnancy

Replicating Effective Programs Plus

Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions*

Source:

1. Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Ventura SJ. Births: preliminary data for 2006. National Vital Statistics Reports 2007;56(7).
2. Chandra A, Martinez GM, Mosher WD, Abma JC, Jones J. Fertility, family planning, and reproductive health of U.S. women: data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. Vital Health Statistics 2005;23(25).
3. Singh S and Darroch JE. Adolescent Pregnancy and childbearing levels and trends in developed countries. Family Planning Perspectives 2000;32(1):14–23. Available at http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3201400.html* (Accessed June 6, 2007).
4. Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Sutton PD, Ventura SJ, Menacker F, Kirmeyer S, Muson ML. Birth: Final data for 2005. National vital statistics reports 2007;56(6).
5. CDC, HIV/AIDS surveillance in adolescents and young adults (through 2005). Available at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/slides/adolescents/index.htm.
6. Darroch JE, Singh S, Frost JJ, and the Study Team. Differences in teen pregnancy rates among five developed countries: the roles of sexual activity and contraceptive use. Family Planning Perspectives 2001;33(6):244–250,281.
7. Santelli JS, Lindberg LD, Finer LB, Singh S. Explaining recent declines in adolescent pregnancy in the United States: the contributions of abstinence and improved contraceptive use. American Journal of Public Health 2007;97(1):150–156.
    

Division of Reproductive Health's Adolescent Reproductive Health
The Adolescent Reproductive Health program promotes reproductive health among young people, with a primary focus on preventing unintended pregnancy among young people aged 10–24 years. Science-based approaches are the foundation of our work as we build partnerships to prevent sexual risk behaviors and mistimed or unwanted pregnancies, and support positive youth development.

CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health's Unintended Pregnancy, STD, HIV, Intervention Research (USHIR)
Our mission is to conduct integrative research to prevent HIV, STDs, and unintended pregnancy and promote health among women of reproductive age, their partners, and their children.

CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health (DASH): Healthy Youth!
CDC seeks to prevent the most serious health risk behaviors among children, adolescents and young adults.

National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

CDC’s Division of STD Prevention

CDC’s Vaccines & Immunizations page: HPV Vaccine (Human Papillomavirus and the Vaccine)

Unintended and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Data and Statistics

Teen Birth Rate Rises for First Time in 15 Years
“Births: Preliminary Data for 2006,” from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics shows that between 2005 and 2006, the birth rate for teenagers 15– to 19– years-old rose 3 percent, from 40.5 births per 1,000 in 2005 to 41.9 births per 1,000 in 2006. This follows a 14-year downward trend in which the teen birth rate fell by 34 percent from its recent peak of 61.8 births per 1,000 in 1991. NCHS release: December 5, 2007.

Teen Delaying Sexual Activity: Using Contraception More Effectively
The report from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics shows that sexual activity declined significantly for younger teenage girls and for teenage boys between 1995 and 2002, and teen contraceptive use improved in significant ways. NCHS release: December 10, 2004.

Effect of Revised Population Counts on County-Level Hispanic
Teen Birthrates—United States, 1999
CDC analyzed county-level estimates of Hispanic teen birthrates for 1999. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated that Hispanic teen birthrates for 1999, when calculated on the basis of the 2000 census, were lower than birthrates based on the 1990 census for the majority of counties with substantial Hispanic populations. Source: MMWR, 2004;53(40):946–949.

Teenagers in the United States: Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing, 2002. Series No. 23, Volume 24 PDF 710KB.

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Page last reviewed: 5/28/08
Page last modified: 5/28/08
Content source: Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion