Teen Pregnancy Rate Rose in 2006, Marking First Increase Since 1990, Study Finds

January 26, 2010 — The pregnancy rate among U.S. teens ages 15 through 19 rose 3% from 2005 to 2006, marking the first increase since 1990, according to a new analysis by the Guttmacher Institute, the Washington Post reports (Stein, Washington Post, 1/26). The increase spanned racial demographics and coincided with an increase in teen birth rates and a 1% rise in abortion rates (Jayson, USA Today, 1/26). Lawrence Finer, director of domestic research at Guttmacher, said, "The decline in teen pregnancy has stopped -- and in fact has turned around," adding that the statistics "are certainly cause for concern."

Increases in the teen birth rate, which has been declining for years, first appeared in 2005 data, but it had not been clear whether the change was because of more pregnancies or fewer abortions and miscarriages, the Post reports. For the new analysis, Guttmacher researchers examined data on teenage sex and births compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics and abortion data gathered by CDC and Guttmacher. While fluctuations in birth rates can be caused by changes in abortion rates, the Guttmacher analysis shows that the shift represents "a true rise in pregnancies," John Santelli, a professor of population and family health at Columbia University, said. Researchers determined that 71.5 teenage girls per 1,000 -- roughly 743,000 pregnancies in total, or 7% of women younger than age 20 -- became pregnant in 2006. In 2005, 69.5 teenagers per 1,000 became pregnant, which represented the leveling off of a decline in teen sexual activity that began in 1991.

Broken down by race, the pregnancy rate increased from 124.9 pregnancies per 1,000 Hispanic teenagers in 2005 to 126.6 in 2006. Among white teens, the rate rose from 43.3 per 1,000 in 2005 to 44 per 1,000 in 2006, while among black teens it rose from 122.7 per 1,000 to 126.3 per 1,000 (Washington Post, 1/26). Among states, New Mexico recorded the highest teen pregnancy rate with 9%, followed by Nevada, Arizona, Texas and Mississippi. The states with the lowest pregnancy rates were New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Minnesota and North Dakota (Allen, Reuters, 1/26). U.S. pregnancy rates are higher than those of most industrialized nations.

Experts Debate Reasons for Shift

Some experts attributed the higher teen pregnancy rate to the growth of abstinence-only sexual education programs. According to the Post, other potential factors that could contribute to the increase are higher poverty, a rise in Hispanic immigration and lax use of birth control due to complacency about HIV/AIDS (Washington Post, 1/26). Finer said, "It's interesting to note that this flattening out of the rate and the increases in the rate is happening at the same time that we've seen substantial increases in funding for abstinence-only programs." Since the late 1990s, abstinence-only programs received more than $1 billion in federal funding (Reuters, 1/26). The new data show that after a decade of heavy spending on abstinence-only, "the U.S. is lurching backwards on teen sexual health," James Wagoner of Advocates for Youth said.

President Obama cut funding for abstinence-only programs and will allocate $110 million for a teen pregnancy prevention initiative focusing on programs with proven results. However, the Senate's health reform bill (HR 3590) would restore $50 million in funding for abstinence-only programs, according to the Post. Sarah Brown, of the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, said, "One of the nation's shining success stories of the past two decades is in danger of unraveling," adding, "Clearly, the nation's collective efforts to convince teens to postpone childbearing must be more creative and more intense, and they must begin today."

Supporters of abstinence-only programs said the research illustrates the need for continued efforts to encourage teens to avoid sexual activity. Valerie Huber of the National Abstinence Education Association said, "Contributors include an over-sexualized culture, lack of involved and positive role models, and the dominant message that teen sex is expected and without consequences" (Washington Post, 1/26).