Teen birth rate in the US hits an all-time low -- apparently thanks to contraceptives

Teen birth rate hits an all time low:
https://www.statnews.com/2016/06/02/teen-birth-rate-pregnancies-drop/

(Headline mistakenly says pregnancies; sorry)(fixed)

Researchers aren't ready to declare a definitive cause yet, but increased access to contraceptives is a likely reason:

That's because a previous decline in teen birth rates was closely tied to access to birth control:

So when access to contraceptives improved, teen birth rates fell, then leveled off. When Obamacare improved access to contraceptives still more, the thinking goes, teen bbegan falling again.

What we do know is that it's not because teens are having less sex, and it's not because of abstinence-only programs, because funding for those programs has been cut in recent years:

There may be some economic factors at play, but not enough to explain the whole drop.

So research continues. But is anyone surprised that better sex education, combined with increased access to contraceptives, helps prevent teen pregnancy?

 

So teens didn't know that you could become pregnant from sex before the schools started teaching it in Kindergarten?

I think more parents are becoming aware and realizing that they cant stop their kids from having sex, and especially single mothers KNOW they better get their girls on some form of BC before their kids slip into poverty the same way the single moms did. So yeah, I would agree that there is more contraceptives being passed around by the parents.

Still wanna know the only way never to become pregnant though?

 

No, teen birth rates are at an all time low because we have organizations offering abortion on demand....

Truth is kids are screwing and having promiscuous sex at an all time high.

 

Please provide the data that support your statement.

 

Dude the simple fact there are abortion factory's out there proves my assertion..... If it even matters I'm 36, lost my virginity at 12 and did a lot of screwing between 12 and 25 (and so did my friends) so it's kind of something I lived through.

 

Don't teens having abortions count towards teen pregnancy? I mean, there are many ways to fudge the numbers on this just to make the left seem like just one of their policies are working, but isn't there a huge difference in the pill preventing pregnancy and an abortion which the doctor has determined there actually is a pregnancy and living baby in the womb before they kill it?

 

Yes but abortions are counted as "contraception"..... Just because teenage birth rates are down doesn't mean teenagers having sex is down.

The implication here is that teenagers are having less sex and that assertion is blatantly dishonest.

 

And no you can't get the data. Specific data showing a massive increase in abortions is what you need.

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A massive difference in numerical terms.

 

Indeed. Lol. Indeed.

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Yeah I get it. But let's face it the teen birthrate is going down and it's not because abortions are going up.

And you know that fine well.

 

Chill out. If you provide independent data that is hard for anyone to refute.

But why bother? We both know your contention is not the case.

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So what? You live in a rubbish area.

I have a friend who is a millionaire. Does that mean my country has become richer?

 

In a word, no. If people aren't taught about sex -- either by their parents or the schools -- they don't learn it. History is rife with examples of kids completely ignorant about the basics of sex.

Combine teenage hormones with ignorance, and you get teen pregnancy.

And more contraception access for teens without having to go through their parents. Not ideal, but better than the alternative.

Sure. Just like the only certain way to avoid crashing a car is to never drive. Or the only certain way to avoid food poisoning is to never eat. But relying on "just say no" is an abject failure in terms of preventing teen pregnancy.

My daughters got complete information about sex, reproduction and contraception, AS WELL as complete information about the consequences of unintended pregnancies. Our message was "We think you are better off avoiding sex until you're an adult, but whatever you do, don't be so bloody stupid as to get pregnant." Turns out that if you give kids the facts, they can connect the dots themselves. Then abstinence is their idea, not yours.

Because while I'm not thrilled by the idea of my kids having sex as teens, even worse would be getting pregnant as teens. And I see no reason to increase the risk of the latter in a (probably futile) effort to avoid the former.

 

Dude kids need to drive, they need to eat - they don't need to have sex.

 

Uh ... as I pointed out in the OP, teenagers are NOT having less sex. So I'm not sure how I could have been implying that they were.

But neither are abortion rates "skyrocketing". In fact, quite the opposite: teen abortion rates are WAY down from their peak.
https://www.guttmacher.org/news-rel...-birth-and-abortion-rates-reach-historic-lows


Rates of teen pregnancy, birth and abortion have declined dramatically in the United States since their peak in the early 1990s. In 2010, some 614,000 pregnancies occurred among teenage women aged 15–19, for a rate of 57.4 pregnancies per 1,000 women that age. This marks a 51% decline from the 1990 peak, and a 15% decline in just two years, from 67.8 in 2008, according to “U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions, 2010: National and State Trends by Age, Race and Ethnicity,” a new study by the Guttmacher Institute. Similarly, the teen birthrate declined 44% from the peak in 1991 (from 61.8 births per 1,000 to 34.4 per 1,000); and the teen abortion rate declined 66% between its 1988 peak and 2010 (from 43.5 abortions per 1,000 to 14.7 per 1,000).


So clearly, "more abortions" is not the reason, either.

 

A rubbish area? What, do you think these super rich kids aren't having sex?

If it matters I grew up in one of the most richest counties in the country - yea we have ghettos too....... If it matters this guy was black and was from the ghetto.....

They guy got like a $20 dollar paycheck because he owed so much in child support...

 

No, they don't need to drive, actually. But that's beside the point. The sex drive is one of the strongest drives a human faces. Telling kids to just ignore it -- especially when you also leave them completely ignorant of the mechanics and consequences of sex -- is delusional.

Instead, give them the information and tools they need to make good decisions, and to protect themselves from the worst consequences of those decisions. And overall, you get better outcomes.

Increased access to contraceptives may encourage kids to have sex. That's not necessarily true -- especially if the accompanying education about the consequences of sex serves as a deterrent. But let's say it does.

Personally, I'm willing to accept more teens having sex if it means way fewer teen pregnancies. That just seems like a no-brainer trade-off.

 

http://www.teenpregnancystatistics.org/content/teenage-abortion-statistics.html

They even admit abortion is up and teen pregnancy is up.....

Of course they also say they're both down as well - well it's only down when you count total number of abortions when in reality our population has grown significantly since 1980 - meaning there are more teenagers hence more abortions...

Oh and teenage sexual activity is way up....

 

So...God obviously approves of sex, but does not like contraception even though it did not exist. God also hates abortion so ignorant people want young people to avoid doing what he approves of in order to prevent what he does not.

Just as with the whole God issue....reality should be considered if we want to succeed.

Reality dictates that EVERYONE enjoys sex and teenagers in particular want to know why.

 

No more of a lie than those who speculate that it is because of birth control without evidence. Its all speculation.

 

Which does nothing to substantiate your original claim.

Wow. Why do you even bother?

 

Well if teenagers want to have a job around here now or in the future they need to know how to drive. How do you think most people get to work?

My point is - it's wrong for adults to be promoting the notion it's fine for kids to have sex...

When I had "the talk" with the old man he told me to wait but if you do wear a condom - that was the end of it.... He didn't give me condoms and tell me it was OK... He knew I was sexually active tho.

Of course my parents are libertarians and by the time you're 16 in my family you're treated as an adult.

 

WOW, you really need to understand statistics...

You're the type that would love to say "more white people are on welfare than black people" while totally ignoring the fact that whites only make up 72% of the population...

MMMM

Do you know what that means?

 

LOL! I understand them quite well, thanks. It's how I know you don't. Spare me your smokescreens, please. Not interested.

Sorry, kid, that doesn't prove your original claim which was,"No, teen birth rates are at an all time low because we have organizations offering abortion on demand...."

It actually contradicts your claim.

You're really, really bad at this.

 

http://www.teenpregnancystatistics.org/content/teenage-abortion-statistics.html

 

Because you don't understand that abortion is being factored as a form of contraception....

When it comes to birth rates abortion isn't even factored.

 

A recent uptick of 1% in teen abortion does not mean abortion use is skyrocketing, especially when that's an uptick from an all-time low.

Further, a 1% increase in teen abortions would not account for the dramatic drop in the birth rate.

Put another way, the teen abortion rate is near an all-time low. Meanwhile, the teen birth-rate is at an all-time low. Thus, abortion is not the cause of the low birth rate.