Some Good News About Teen Parenthood Rate

Christine Kim / October 21, 2010

There is some good news about the rate of teenage parenthood in America. It’s on the decline again.

According to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday, between 2007 and 2008, teen birth rates decreased by 2.4 percent. From a long-term perspective, the drop is even more dramatic. Between 1991 and 2008, the teen birth rate fell by nearly one-third. In only two years during this period, from 2005 to 2007, were there slight upticks in the number.

The other main findings of the report focus on the significant state variations in teen birth rates, from the low of 19.8 births per 1,000 teenage girls age 15–19 in New Hampshire to the high of 65.7 births per 1,000 teens in Mississippi. (more…)