Teenage pregnancy, abortion and birth rates have declined in every state in the U.S. and among all ethnic and racial groups.
According to the a nonprofit organization for reproductive health, Guttmacher Institute, six percent of teenagers conceived in 2010 and this number is the lowest in over 30 years. The rate plummeted 15 percent from 2008 to 2010 alone with a total of nearly 60 pregnancies in 1,000 teenage girls in 2010. On the same year, abortion rate was at 14.7 in 1,000 women and teen birth was at 34.4 in 1,000 women as well. The teen pregnancy, abortion and birth rates all declined since the 1990's during its peak.
In 2010, pregnancy rates for Hispanic and black women aged 15 years to 19 were more than double the rate for white women in spite of sharp drops. Vermont and New Hampshire had the lowest teenage pregnancy rates at 32 in 1,000 women and 28 in 1,000 women, respectively. Massachusetts reported to have one of the lowest teenage pregnancy rate at 37 in 1,000 teen women. The trends were generally steady in almost all of the states but New Mexico reported to have the highest teenage pregnancy rate at 80 in 1,000 women. Mississippi had 76 pregnant teenagers per 1,000 women while Texas and Arkansas both had 73.
The study associated the varied trends across different states with the variety of access and availability to sex education, knowledge of contraceptive services and cultural differences regarding childbearing and sexual behavior.
"The decline in the teen pregnancy rate is great news," lead author of the study Kathryn Kost from the Guttmacher Institute said. "Other reports had already demonstrated sustained declines in births among teens in the past few years; but now we know that this is due to the fact that fewer teens are becoming pregnant in the first place."
The report found that contraceptive use from women aged 15 to 19 years old nationwide increased from 1982 which had 48 percent of teens using contraception to 78 percent in 2010. Researchers also concluded that the general teen abortion declined by a third from 46 to 30 percent from 1986 to 2010.
