Teen Birth Rates Plunge to Record Low - STAT
“It’s a true national success story on an issue that many once considered intractable and unsolvable,” said Bill Albert of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
Progress in cutting down teen pregnancy “has been both wide and deep — significant declines in all 50 states, and among all racial and ethnic groups,” Alpert said. “If there has been more progress on a challenging social issue, I don’t know what it is.”
In 2014, there were 24.2 births per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19.Alpert offered a few reasons for the drop: Lots more teens are using long-lasting forms of birth control, such as IUDs and contraceptive implants. The federal government has invested in sex-ed classes. Peer influence may be discouraging teens from pregnancy.