Vital Signs

Breaking the cycle of teen pregnancy

Preventing teen pregnancy is a priority because of the huge economic, social, and health costs on teen parents and their families.

• Teen birth rates in the US are unacceptably high. About 4% of all teenage girls give birth each year. Teen births represent 10% of the 4 million births each year.
• Teen birth rates in the US are up to 9 times higher than in most other developed countries.
• Hispanic and black teen girls are about 2-3 times more likely to give birth than white teen girls. Use of birth control is lower among sexually active black and Hispanic high school students than white students.
• Girls born to teen parents are almost 33% more likely to become teen parents themselves, continuing the cycle of teen pregnancy.
• About 50% of teen mothers get a high school diploma by age 22, compared with 90% of teen girls who do not give birth. Teen childbearing costs US taxpayers about $9 billion each year.

Prevention efforts work by teaching teens how and why to delay starting sex and steps that they need to take if they become sexually active. Key components include sex education that has been shown to work, support for parent-teen communication about preventing pregnancy, and ready access to sexual and reproductive health services. Sexually active teens should have access to effective and affordable birth control.

Among high school students:

• Nearly half have had sexual intercourse (about 46% for both girls and boys), compared to 54% in 1991.
• About 12% of sexually active boys and girls did not use birth control the last time they had sex, compared to 16% in 1991.
• About 9% of sexually active teens used two methods (such as a condom with birth control pills or Depo-Provera, an injectable birth control) to avoid pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, compared to 5% in 1999.

Among all teens:

• About 65% of girls and 53% of boys received formal sex education about both abstinence and birth control.
• About 44% of girls and 27% of boys had spoken with their parents about both abstinence and birth control.