Study Reports Rise in Teen Birth Rate

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Study Reports Rise in Teen Birth Rate

Special Report - December 14, 2007
Underlining the need for more abstinence education in public schools, a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reports that teen birth rates in the United States increased last year for the first time since 1991. The study, “Births: Preliminary Data for 2006,” showed an increase of three percent from 2005 to 2006 in the rate of births among girls aged 15 to 19, while the rate for younger teens between the ages of 10 and 14 declined slightly. In addition, the total number of births to unmarried women reached a record high in 2006, rising to 1.64 million births, an eight percent increase over the last year and a 20 percent jump since 2002. Overall, the study estimated a total birth rate of more than four million children in 2006, constituting the largest number of births since 1961. According to an NCHS press release, Stephanie Ventura, head of the CDC’s Reproductive Statistics Branch, said the rise in teen births was “notable,” but warned that it is too early to determine whether the numbers are the start of a new trend.