Reduce Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies

Root Causes: Reduce Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy

Why is this trend important?

Progress on reducing teen pregnancies and births is stalling. Overall, the national teen birth rate has declined 33% between 1991 and 2008. However, the initial steep declines have leveled off in recent years. In fact, the teen birth rate actually increased 5 percent between 2005 and 2007, then decreased 2 percent in 2008. The U.S. still has the highest rate of teen pregnancy and childbearing in the industrialized world.[1]

Currently, three in 10 girls in the U.S. get pregnant by age 20. The national teen birth rate has declined 33% between 1991 and 2008, but the U.S. still has the highest rate in the industrialized world.[2]

• Teen childbearing in the United States costs taxpayers at least $9.1 billion (2004). Most expenditures are associated with negative consequences for the children of teen mothers, including increased costs for health care, foster care, and incarceration. [3]

• Reducing teen pregnancies saves public dollars. The one-third decline in teen childbearing between 1991 and 2004 saved taxpayers $6.7 billion in 2004 alone. [4]

• Half of all U.S. pregnancies are unplanned (three million annually). Of these, over one-third are to unmarried women in their 20s. [5]

• Unplanned pregnancies costs $5 billion a year in direct medical costs alone (2002). [6]

• Every $1 spent on publicly provided family planning services saves $4.02. [7]

What are the Forces and Influences at Work?

Protective and risk factors for teens are numerous and diverse. A growing body of evidence suggests that the risk and protective factors include multiple sexual and nonsexual factors. They include teens’:

• connection to family, school, and other groups or institutions that discourage risky sexual behavior, and/or encourage responsible behavior.
• biological makeup (especially sex, age, and physical maturity)
• home and community environments (especially the sexual values expressed and modeled by the home and community and the disadvantage or disorganization of the home and community)
• sexual values and attitudes and those of their friends, peers and romantic partners. [8]

The social landscape for young adults has changed dramatically from past generations. Young adults today are less likely to be married and be committed to a career. Many experience episodic education and employment, and shift between living independently and living with their parents. Greater numbers are living outside of the structure and norms that traditional institutions have provided previous generations. [9]

Myths and misinformation about pregnancy and contraception are prevalent among young adults. About 80 percent of unmarried young adults ages 18-29 years are sexually active and use contraception to avoid pregnancy, but 19 percent use no contraception at all and 24 percent use it inconsistently. [10]

---