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Article: Behind the teen birth decline.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- U.S. News & World Report
- Article date:
- November 8, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 All rights reserved. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Have American teens been scared chaste? Health officials believe that's at least one reason the percentage of 15- to 17-year-old girls having babies has dropped to its lowest level in 40 years. It was the seventh consecutive year of decline for the teen birthrate. Even when estimates of abortions and miscarriages are added to the mix, the most recent figures show teen pregnancy lower than at any time since the statistics were first tallied in 1976.
Last year's 51.1 births for every 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19 marked an 18 percent drop since 1991. "Less sex, more contraception, and a growing recognition among teens themselves that their focus should be on education ...