Lower Teen Birth Rate

Teen birth rate reaches record low.
The Los Angeles Times (12/22) reports, "Teenagers are giving birth at the lowest rates noted in seven decades of record-keeping, according to government statistics released Tuesday." The CDC's "National Center for Health Statistics report doesn't speculate on why the birthrate has fallen, but two decades of public-health initiatives to curb teenage pregnancy may be paying dividends. Outside experts said the economy, too, could be a factor."
The newly released data also noted "a continued decline in the number of births overall," USA Today (12/22, Jayson) reports. "For women ages 20-24, the birthrate declined by 7% to 96.3 births per 1,000, which represents the largest drop for this age group since 1973; the number of total births decreased 4%." Between 2008 and 2009, the "birthrate and number of births for women in their 30s also declined; the only age group whose birthrate rose was among women ages 40-44."
Still, CDC officials say, the "most striking change was the decline among teens," the AP (12/22) reports. The "birth rate for teenagers fell to 39 births per 1,000 girls, ages 15 through 19," which is "a six percent decline from the previous year, and the lowest since health officials started tracking the rate in 1940." Aside from the "recent recession," the falling rate is also being attributed to a "decline in immigration to the United States," and "some experts credited popular culture as playing a role," saying the "issue of teen pregnancy got a lot of attention through Bristol Palin."
MTV's "'16 and Pregnant' series and Washington's birth control-vs.-abstinence debate" may have also "gotten through to teens," according to the Washington Post (12/22, Stein). "Some data, for example, indicate that use of birth-control pills and other forms of contraception among teen girls is increasing." Researchers were quick to point out, however, that it is too soon to draw any steadfast conclusions, the Wall Street Journal (12/22, A4, Esterl, subscription required) reports. That may occur later when data come in for a more recent year.