America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007
Adolescent Births
Bearing a child during adolescence is often associated with long-term difficulties for the mother and her child. These consequences are often attributable to poverty and the other adverse socioeconomic circumstances that frequently accompany early childbearing.28 Compared with babies born to older mothers, babies born to adolescent mothers, particularly young adolescent mothers, are at higher risk of low birthweight and infant mortality.6, 9, 29 They are more likely to grow up in homes that offer lower levels of emotional support and cognitive stimulation, and they are less likely to earn high school diplomas. For the mothers, giving birth during adolescence is associated with limited educational attainment, which in turn can reduce future employment prospects and earnings potential.30 The birth rate of adolescents under age 18 is a measure of particular interest because the mothers are still of school age.
Indicator FAM6: Birth rates for females ages 15–17 by race and Hispanic origin, 1980–2005
NOTE: Data for 2005 are preliminary. Rates for 1980–1989 are calculated for all Whites and all Blacks. Rates for 1980–1989 are not shown for Hispanics; White, non-Hispanics; or Black, non-Hispanics because information on the Hispanic origin of the mother was not reported on the birth certificates of most states.
SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Vital Statistics System.
- In 2005, the adolescent birth rate was 21 per 1,000 young women ages 15–17. There were 133,138 births to these young women in 2005. The 2005 rate was a record low for the Nation.6, 10, 11
- The birth rate among adolescents ages 15–17 declined more than two-fifths, from 39 to 21 births per 1,000, between 1991 and 2005. This decline follows an increase of one-fourth between 1986 and 1991.
- There are substantial racial and ethnic disparities among the birth rates for adolescents ages 15–17. In 2005, the birth rate per 1,000 females for this age group was 8 for Asians/Pacific Islanders, 12 for White, non-Hispanics, 31 for American Indians/Alaska Natives, 35 for Black, non-Hispanics, and 48 for Hispanics.10
- The birth rate for Black, non-Hispanic females ages 15–17 dropped by three-fifths between 1991 and 2005, completely reversing the increase between 1986 and 1991. The birth rate for White, non-Hispanic teenagers declined by half during 1991–2005.6, 10
- The birth rate for Hispanic adolescents in this age group fell by nearly one-third between 1991 and 2005.10, 11
- In 2005, 90 percent of births to females ages 15–17 were to unmarried mothers, compared with 62 percent in 1980 (See FAM2.B).
- The birth rates for first and second births for females ages 15–17 declined by two-fifths and more than one-half, respectively, between 1991 and 2004.
- The pregnancy rate (the sum of births, abortions, and fetal losses per 1,000 females) declined by two-fifths for adolescents ages 15–17 during 1990–2002, reaching a record low of 44 per 1,000 in 2002. Rates for births, abortions, and fetal losses declined for these young adolescents from the 1990s through 2002.11, 31, 32
6 Martin, J.A., Hamilton, B.E., Sutton, P.D., Ventura, S.J., Menacker, F.J. and Kirmeyer, S. (2006). Births: Final data for 2004. National Vital Statistics Reports, 55 (1). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
9 Mathews, T.J., and MacDorman, M.F. (2007). Infant mortality statistics from the 2004 period linked birth/infant death data set. National Vital Statistics Reports, 55 (14). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
10 Hamilton, B.E., Martin, J.A., and Ventura, S.J. (2006). Births: Preliminary data for 2005. National Vital Statistics Reports, 55 (11). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
11 Hamilton, B.E., Sutton, P.D., and Ventura, S.J. (2003). Revised birth and fertility rates for the 1990s: United States, and new rates for Hispanic populations, 2000 and 2001. National Vital Statistics Reports, 51 (12). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
28 Klerman, L.V. (1993). Adolescent pregnancy and parenting: Controversies of the past and lessons for the future. Journal of Adolescent Health, 14, 553–561.
29 Kiely, J.L., Brett, K.M., Yu, S., and Rowley, D.L. (1994). Low birthweight and intrauterine growth retardation. In Wilcox, L.S., and Marks, J.S., (Eds.), From data to action: CDC's public health surveillance for women, infants, and children (pp. 185–202). Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
30 Maynard, R.A. (Ed.). (1997). Kids having kids: Economic costs and social consequences of teen pregnancy. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.
31 Ventura, S.J., Mosher, W.D., Curtin, S.C., Abma, J.C., and Henshaw, S. (2000). Trends in pregnancies and pregnancy rates by outcome: Estimates for the United States, 1976–96. Vital and Health Statistics, 21 (56). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
32 Ventura, S.J., Abma, J.C., Mosher, W.D., and Henshaw, S. (2006). Recent trends in teenage pregnancy in the United States, 1990–2002. Health e-stats. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/teenpreg1990-2002/teenpreg1990-2002.htm.