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About NCHS
Overview
Trends in Teen Pregnancy by Age
Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin
Changes in Pregnancy Rates by Outcome
Factors Accounting for the Recent Decline in Teen
Pregnancy
Teenage Pregnancy Data Sources
Challenges and Future Opportunities
The CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is the nation's principal health statistics agency, providing data to identify and address health issues. NCHS compiles statistical information to help guide public health and health policy decisions.
Collaborating with other public and private health partners, NCHS employs a variety of data collection mechanisms to obtain accurate information from multiple sources. This process provides a broad perspective to help us understand the population's health, influences on health, and health outcomes.
Teenage pregnancy rates dropped 38 percent overall from 1990-2004. The rate fell from its historic peak in 1990, 116.8 per 1,000 aged 15-19 years, to 72.2 in 2004. The 2004 pregnancy rate for teenagers was the lowest ever reported since the national series of estimates began in 1976.
The declines in teenage pregnancy have been much steeper for younger than for older teenagers. The rate for teenagers 15-17 years dropped steeply, by 46 percent from 77.1 per 1,000 in 1990 to 41.5 in 2004. The rate for older teenagers fell as well, by 29 percent beginning in 1991, from 167.7 to 118.6. The 2004 rates for each of these age groups were also lower than for any year during the 1976 -2004 period.
Sources: Estimated pregnancy rates by outcome
for the United States, 1990-2004. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 56, no.
15. 2008. Births: Preliminary Data for 2006. National Vital Statistics Reports,
vol 56, no. 7. 2007.
Sources: Estimated pregnancy rates by outcome
for the United States, 1990-2004. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 56, no.
15. 2008. Births: Preliminary Data for 2006. National Vital Statistics Reports,
vol 56, no. 7. 2007.
Source: Estimated pregnancy rates by outcome
for the United States, 1990-2004. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 56, no.
15. 2008.
Source: Estimated pregnancy rates by outcome
for the United States, 1990-2004. National Vital Statistics Reports; vol 56, no.
15. 2008.
Pregnancy rates dropped for teenagers in all population subgroups between 1990 and 2004. Overall, pregnancy rates for black and white non-Hispanic teenagers declined 45 and 48 percent, respectively, with much larger declines for younger than for older teenagers. The rates for Hispanic teenagers began to decline after 1992; the overall teen pregnancy rate for this group fell about 24 percent during 1992-2004.
All components of the pregnancy rates for teenagers (births, abortions, and fetal losses) declined from 1990 through 2004. Teenage birth rates fell one-third from the 1991 peak (61.8 per 1,000) through 2004, and continued to decline through 2005 (by 35 percent to 40.5). The birth rate increased 3 percent between 2005 and 2006 (41.9), interrupting the long-term decline. Abortion rates for teenagers dropped by one-half from 40.3 to 19.8 per 1,000.
Birth and abortion rates fell for non-Hispanic white and black teenagers and for Hispanic teenagers through 2004. The declines in birth and abortion rates during 1990-2004 were 37 and 65 percent, respectively, for white teenagers; 46 percent and 43 percent for black teenagers; and 18 percent and 31 percent for Hispanic teenagers. After generally continuing to decline through 2005, birth rates for each population subgroup increased in 2006.
NCHS' 2002 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) shows trends in behaviors underlying the reductions in U.S. teenage pregnancy rates through the early 2000s. During 1995 to 2002, the percent of female teens who had ever had intercourse declined significantly (among ages 15-17) or was stable (among ages 18-19). During the same time period, the percent who used contraception at last sex rose from 71 to 83 percent. According to recent data on high school students from CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2007), increases in contraceptive use and decreases in sexual activity stopped after 2001. These may be among the factors accounting for the upturn in teenage birth rates in 2006. Findings from Cycle 7 of the NSFG (available in late 2009) are expected to help explain the most recent trends and variations in pregnancy rates and the behavioral, social, and economic factors that account for them.
NCHS and its partners employ a variety of data collection mechanisms to obtain accurate information from multiple sources. They include:
National Center for Health
Statistics
3311 Toledo Road
Hyattsville, MD 20782
Phone:
1-800-232-4636
nchsquery@cdc.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Atlanta, GA 30333, U.S.A
Tel: (404) 639-3311 / Public Inquiries: (404) 639-3534 / (800) 311-3435