Rate of pregnant teens has declined in the United States, but are still much higher when compared to other nations, a CDC report explains. The report, titled State Disparities in Teenage Birth Rates in the United States, shows drastic differences in teenage pregnancies in various states as well.
This report closely analyzed girls between the ages of 15 and 19. Authors of this study made a point to explain birth rates for black and Hispanic teenage girls are typically higher than rates for white teenage girls, causing states with higher black and Hispanic populations to have a higher rate of teenage pregnancies. Other factors seem to influence the fluctuations throughout the United States, however.
Analyzing pregnancy birth rates in white teenagers alone still seems to have some differences. For instance, teenage birth rate in Connecticut was just under 1 percentĀ but nearly 5.5 percent in Mississippi. The rates among for white girls were lowest in California, the northern Midwest, and the Northeast, when compared against the South.
Generally speaking, teenage birth rates were higher in Mississippi than in Connecticut for all ethnic groups observed in this report.
Birth rate figures were significantly higher in the United States than many other countries. All figures here are teenage births per 1,000. United States: 41.9, United Kingdom: 26.1, Ireland: 16.3, Australia: 15.3, South Korea: 2.1.
Education, income, and personal attitudes all affect birth rates among teenagers.
Teenage birth rates in the United states have been declining steadily since 1991, although a slight increase occurred between 2005 and 2007.