**********OFF TOPIC: TEEN PREGNANCY FALLS TO 23-YEAR LOW************
In view of the fact that the teen pregnancy rate was the subject of some debate on this thread recently, I thought there might be some interest in this story, published in The Washington Post today (Thursday):
Teen Pregnancy Rate Has Fallen 14% in
'90s, to a 23-Year Low
By Barbara Vobejda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 15, 1998; Page A06
The rate at which American teenagers are becoming pregnant has
fallen to its lowest point since 1975, dropping 14 percent since 1990,
according to a study released yesterday.
Researchers attributed the change to a decline in sexual activity among
young people and improved use of contraceptives, including the newly
popular, longer-lasting implants and injections.
The teen pregnancy rate, which peaked in 1990 at 117 pregnancies per
1,000 girls aged 15 to 19, declined to 101 in 1995, the most recent figures
available.
The statistics, compiled by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, are the latest
in a series of reports, including those showing lower birth and abortion
rates, that point to a change in behavior among the nation's
adolescents. While teen birth rates in this country remain high relative
to other nations, young people here appear to be embracing messages
urging them to refrain from early sexual activity, and those who do
have sex are using contraceptives more reliably.
This includes increased condom use, which researchers link to AIDS
prevention warnings, and among some groups, a shift away from the
pill to the injectable Depo Provera and Norplant.
Federal surveys indicate that among African American females aged 15
to 19 using contraceptives, 24 percent said they used an injection or
implant, and 32 percent used the pill. Among all women over 30
practicing contraception, by contrast, fewer than 2 percent use
injections or implants.
"The greatest uptake [of injections and implants] is among young black
women, and they are also experiencing the sharpest decline in
pregnancy," said Jeanie Rosoff, president of the Alan Guttmacher
Institute.
Researchers have argued that Depo Provera, an injection that lasts
three months, and Norplant, an implant that lasts five years, are more
effective with young people whose sexual activity is sporadic and who
often have a hard time consistently using other contraceptives.
Pregnancy statistics are compiled from federal birth data, abortion data
gathered by Guttmacher from abortion providers and miscarriage
estimates.
An analysis also published by Guttmacher attributed the decline in
sexual activity among teens and the increase in contraception to "a
confluence of factors, including greater emphasis on abstinence, more
conservative attitudes about sex, fear of AIDS, the popularity of the
long-lasting methods . . . and even the economy."
A recent federal study reported that the proportion of high school
students who had had sexual intercourse has fallen 11 percent during
the 1990s. And other surveys have shown that a smaller share of young
people approved of premarital sex in the mid-1990s than a decade
earlier, according to the Guttmacher analysis, written by researcher
Patricia Donovan.
Also, the National Survey of Family Growth, a federal survey, reported
that the proportion of teenage girls using contraceptives the first time
they had intercourse rose from 48 percent in the early 1980s to 78
percent in 1995.
And an economy that improves job opportunities is thought by many
experts to change the attitudes and behavior of young people, perhaps
dissuading them from wanting to have a child.
Many of these changes, said Rosoff, are part of a larger cultural change
that has convinced teenagers of the negative consequences of
unprotected sexual activity.
She compared it to drug use, saying, "Everybody thinks it's cool until
they realize the consequences, then they return to more moderate
behavior. The same is true with sexual activity."
© Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
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