teen birth rate lowest in decades: an outcome of the recession?
The 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 report shows that the teen birthrate fell to 39.1 births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19 in 2009. That’s a 6% drop from 2008 and the lowest rate since 1940, when the government began keeping track. In 1991, by contrast, the rate was 61.8 per 1,000.
A decline in immigration to the United States, blamed on the weak job market, is another possible factor. A large proportion of immigrants are Latino, and Latinos accounted for nearly 1 in 4 births in 2009. The birth rate among Latino teens is the highest of any ethnic group, with 70 births per 1,000 girls in 2009. But that rate, too, was down 10% from the previous year.
While causes are still unclear, news of the large decline was a stunning and exciting surprise for advocates
popmed. 