Teen Pregnancy Rates Drop to Historic Lows in U.S

The teen birth rate in the U.S. fell to a historic low in 2011, according to statistics released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The numbers were part of an 'Annual Summary of Vital Statistics: 2010-2011' published online by the journal Pediatrics ahead of its March issue.



The report detailed fertility, birth, and delivery statistics across all groups of women considered to be of childbearing age. Overall, the U.S. birth rate among younger women declined, while the birth rate among older women increased.



Here are some of the statistics that were released as part of the CDC's report.



8: The number of teen births in the U.S. declined a dramatic 8 percent between 2010 and 2011.



1991: As Reuters noted on Monday, the teen pregnancy and birth rate in the U.S. has been falling gradually for more than two decades. The highest teen birth rate recorded in the U.S. in recent years was in 1991.



31.3: For every 1,000 teens between the ages of 15 and 19, the U.S. recorded 31.3 births in 2011, which equals out to just more than 3 percent of all teenagers.



63.2: Overall, the U.S. marked 63.2 births per 1,000 women across all age groups in 2011, which was a 1 percent decline over 2010, and as noted by the article in Pediatrics, the 'lowest rate ever recorded.'



40.7: Births to unmarried mothers declined by a slight 0.1 percent between 2010 and 2011, and accounted for 40.7 percent of all births in the U.S. in 2011.



3.6: Dr. Ed McCabe, who is the senior vice president and medical director for the March of Dimes, told HealthDay News on Monday that if teen pregnancy rates had remained close to the 61.8 births per 1,000 teenagers that it was in 1991, more than 3.6 million more babies would have been born to teen moms.



11.7: The percentage of preterm births dropped to 11.7 percent in 2011, a decline of more than 1.1 percent over the 12.8 percent recorded in 2006.



50: The teen birth rates among non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics have seen the most significant decreases since 1991, of more than 50 percent apiece. In 1991, the teen pregnancy rate among non-Hispanic blacks was 118.2 per 1,000 teens, while the rate for Hispanic teens was 104.6 per 1,000. In 2011, those rates had dropped to 47.4 per 1,000 teens and 49.4 per 1,000 teens, respectively.



Vanessa Evans is a musician and freelance writer based in Michigan, with a lifelong interest in health and nutrition issues.