Teen pregnancy rates are at an all time low, with fewer teens getting pregnant than at any point in the last 40 years. Research from the Guttmacher Institute, a sexual and reproductive health think tank, reported that the pregnancy rates among teens is down 42% from 1990, from 116.9 pregnancies per 1,000 women in 1990 to 67.8 pregnancies in 2008.
Kathryn Kost, a senior research associate at Guttmacher and the lead author of the study says:
“The 30-plus years of rates that we have, have been showing a very steady decline. Rates now, from 2008 are at the lowest levels we ever seen since we started reporting them.”
The abortion rate is also down among teens, dropping nearly 60% from its peak in 1988. However, there are racial and ethnic disparities: African American and Hispanic teens have two to three times higher pregnancy rates than white teens. Hispanic teens also had twice the rate of abortions, and rates among black teens are four times higher than white teens.
Researchers attribute the significant declines to contraception awareness, not a reduction in sexual activity.
“What seems pretty clear is that increasing use of contraception is preventing these kids from getting pregnant in the first place,” said Kost. “It’s clear that the largest share of the decline was due contraceptive use,” she said, “both an increase in use, and increase in use of the most effective methods.”
