Many individual, family, school, and community variables combine to affect the
likelihood that teens will become pregnant. When they do, these vulnerable girls are most
often left on their own to make a host of challenging adult decisions — about
carrying and keeping the baby, health care, education, and how to live and support
themselves and their babies. The short- and long-term social and economic costs associated
with teen pregnancy are high for the mother and, even more critically, for the child.
While pregnant, these young women are less likely to access early prenatal care and are
more likely to drink, smoke, and use other drugs. Most teen parents are living in poverty
when their children are born. Despite the best intentions, without family support and/or
social services, most pregnant teens can’t completely overcome these and other
challenges to providing a stable, supportive atmosphere for their children during the
critical first years.
Missoula Co. Teen Pregnancy Rate per 1000
Source: Trends in Montana Teen Pregnancies and Their Outcomes:
1981-1995, MDPHHS 1997
National Birth Rates for Teenagers 15-19 Decline Between 1991 and 1998
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released preliminary data on births
to teenage women in the United States for 1998 in the October, 1999 issue of the National
Vital Statistics Reports.
Findings from the study include:
Births to Females Ages 15-19
The 1998 birth rate for U.S. teenagers 15-19 years old was 51.1 live births per 1,000
women.
The 1998 birth rate is 2% lower than it was in 1997 and 18% lower than in 1991.
In 1998, there were 483,220 births to women ages 15-19. This number is slightly higher
than the number of births to teenagers in 1997 (483,220). This reflects an increase in the
number of teenage females.
Births to Females Ages 15-17
The birth rate for teenagers ages 15-17 was 30 births per 1,000 women.
The birth rate for this age group fell 5% from 1997 and has fallen 21% since 1991. This
decline essentially reverses an increase in the birth rate to women ages 15-17 that
occurred is between 1986
(31 births per 1,000 women) and 1991 (39 births per 1,000 women).
In 1998, there were 173,252 births to women ages 15-17. This is the lowest number of
births to this age group since 1987.
Births to Females Ages 18-19
The birth rate for women ages 18-19 was 82 births per 1,000 women in 1998.
The rate declined 2% among 18-19 year olds since 1997 and has dropped 13% since its
1992 high of 94 births per 1,000 women.
Births to Females Under the Age of 15
The birth rate among teenagers 10-14 years old fell to 1 birth per 1,000 women. This is
its lowest level since 1969.
The number of births to teenagers 10-14 years old fell to 9,481 births in 1998, down 6%
from 1997 and 27% from its recent high of 12,901 births in 1994.
Marital Status
78.8% of all teenage births were to unmarried women. This porportion is up slightly
from 78.2% in 1997.
Race and Ethnicity
Birth rates have declined 26% for Black women ages 15-19 from 116 births per 1,000
women in 1991 to 85 births per 1,000 women in 1998. This rate is lower than any year since
1960 when data on Black women first became available.
The birth rate for Hispanic women ages 15-19 has declined steadily in recent years,
dropping 13% from 108 births per 1,000 women in 1994 to 94 births per 1,000 women in 1998.
Pregnancy Rate
The pregnancy rate is computed by combining information on live births with information
on induced abortions and fetal losses. The most recent year for which this data available
is 1996.
^ The estimated teen pregnancy rate in 1996 was 99 pregnancies per 1,000 women ages
15-19, down 15% from its high point of 117 pregnancies per 1,000 women in 1991.
Between 1991 and 1998, birth rates for teenagers 15-19 years old have declined for all
ages, races, and ethnicities. In addition, birth rates have declined in all 50 states, the
District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands.
Despite this positive trend, birth rates remain much higher for Black and Hispanic
teenagers, than for other groups.
For more information:S. J. Ventura et al., "Declines in Teenage Birth Rates,
1991-98: Update of National and State Trends," National Vital Statistics Reports,
October 1999, v. 47, n. 26, pp. 1-12.
