NEW YORK (AP) — Teen pregnancies fell again last year, to another historic low, a government report shows. ADVERTISING NEW YORK (AP) — Teen pregnancies fell again last year, to another historic low, a government report shows. “The continued decline
NEW YORK (AP) — Teen pregnancies fell again last year, to another historic low, a government report shows.
“The continued decline is really quite amazing,” said Brady Hamilton, the lead author of the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last year, the birth rate for U.S. teens dropped 8 percent. Rates have been falling since 1991, and this marks yet another new low.
Experts cite a range of factors, including less sex, positive peer influence, and more consistent use of birth control.
Research has shown that teen pregnancy and childbirth cost U.S. taxpayers an estimated $9 billion each year and have negative health and social consequences.
“The credit here goes to the teens themselves,” said Bill Albert, spokesman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
The new report is based on a review of most of the birth certificates filed last year. There were nearly 4 million births. That’s down slightly from the 2014 total, by about 4,300.
The CDC released the data on Thursday, as part of a report on U.S. births in 2015. May was
Other key figures:
— The birth rate was 22 live births per 1,000 females ages 15 through 19. The rate was 24 per 1,000 the year before.
— The number of teen births fell to 229,888 last year from 249,078 in 2014, the CDC said.
— The overall number of U.S. births declined slightly in 2015 to 3.97 million from 3.98 million the year before, the CDC said. The drop followed an increase in 2014, the first since 2007, the agency said.
