According to the report, "Estimated Pregnancy Rates by Outcome for the United States, 1990-2004," prepared by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics and released yesterday, fewer teens got pregnant in 2004 (as compared to 1990), but more unmarried women in their 20s became pregnant. The report indicates that nearly 38% of pregnancies in 2004 were to women under age 25, down from nearly 43% in 1990 (with the proportion of pregnancies among teens under age 20 dropping from 15% in 1990 to 12% in 2004). This CDC report also shows that the latest look at U.S. pregnancy trends seem to indicate that more women are keeping their babies - even if they are not married, with the exception of black women.
Also revealed, in 2004, there were 6.4 million pregnancies, down 6% from 1990. Stephanie Ventura, head of the Reproductive Statistics Branch at CDC/NCHS, explains that while this latest pregnancy report has found little change in births numbers between 1990 and 2004, abortions fell 24% over this time period. Ventura also points out that nearly half (45%) of the pregnancies in 2004 occurred among unmarried women, so the typical "unwed mother" is no longer a teen but, in fact, an older woman. Additionally, the report revealed that pregnancy rates remained highest for women in their 20s, suggesting that more women may be delaying childbearing where as pregnancy totals for married women declined from 4.1 million in 1990 to 3.5 million in 2004.
Finally, the authors write, “The 2004 pregnancy rate for teenagers [in all population subgroups] was the lowest ever reported since this series of pregnancy estimates began in 1976.” This is in contrast to a recent NCHS report suggesting that the teenage birth rate rose 3% in 2006; the CDC explains this by stating that their teenage pregnancy data (in this report) is not being as recent since 2004 is the latest year for which the CDC has national data on abortion rates, so it is unknown at this time if the long-term decline in the teenage pregnancy rate reversed in 2006. That being said, the CDC report indicated that pregnancy rates fell the most among sexually experienced teens and suggested that better use of contraception may be responsible. “There is some evidence that contraceptive use (for example, at first intercourse and at most recent intercourse) was increasing among teenagers through 2002. Data on contraceptive use show that there was increasing use of the oral contraceptive pill and long-acting injectable contraceptives among teenagers.”
- For more information about this report: CDC's "Estimated Pregnancy Rates by Outcome for the United States, 1990-2004" Report
Source:
Ventura, S., Abma, J., Mosher, W.D., & Henshaw, S. (April 14, 2008). Estimated Pregnancy Rates by Outcome for the United States, 1990–2004. National Vital Statistic Reports, 56(15), 1-26. Accessed from the CDC National Center for Health Statistics.
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