Teen Births

Teen Births in United States

United States

Substantial social, economic and health costs are associated with teen pregnancy and childrearing. Teen mothers are significantly more likely to drop out of high school and face unemployment. The children of teen mothers also have a higher risk of dropping out of school, being hospitalized, dying during infancy or childhood and becoming teen mothers themselves. 

Some experts have predicted that the 2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will create more barriers for teens with an unintended pregnancy, particularly for high-risk teens, who have lower access to quality sexual and reproductive care and sexual education. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teen pregnancy and childbirth cost taxpayers in the United States about $9.4 billion in 2010.

Teen births have declined steadily over the last several decades, but disparities persist. The rate of teen pregnancy is higher among:

• Teenagers ages 18-19, who have a rate 4.5 times higher than those ages 15-17. 
• Teenagers in foster care, who have a rate more than twice that of those not in foster care. 
• American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic, Black and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander teenagers, whose teen pregnancy rates are all more than double that of non-Hispanic white teenagers. Asian teenagers have the lowest rate.
• Teenagers living in lower-income counties compared with teenagers from higher-income counties.
• Teenagers from counties with lower educational attainment compared with teens from counties with higher educational attainment.
• Teenagers living in rural counties compared with teenagers living in urban counties.

Effective teen pregnancy prevention strategies include:

• Delaying sexual intercourse: Abstinence is the only method guaranteed to prevent pregnancy. 
• Contraceptive use (birth control): More than 86% of sexually active teens used birth control the last time they had sex, but very few use the most effective forms of birth control.
  • Long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC), such as implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs), are more effective at preventing pregnancy compared with the more commonly used male condoms and birth control pills. 
  • Dual contraception use: According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the ideal contraceptive practice for sexually active adolescents is dual contraceptive use — both a condom and a method more effective at preventing unwanted pregnancies, such as implants or IUDs.
  • ACOG recommends that physicians routinely address adolescent contraceptive needs, expectations and concerns regardless of a patient’s age or previous sexual activity.
• Federal and state policies supporting:
  • Access to family planning services, which is linked to lower teen birth rates.
  • Comprehensive risk-reduction sex education in schools, which has proven effective at increasing use of contraception and decreasing sexual activity, prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and teen pregnancies.

Healthy People 2030 has an objective to reduce the teen pregnancy rate, as well as several other related family planning goals.

“ACOG Committee Opinion No. 710: Counseling Adolescents About Contraception.” Obstetrics & Gynecology 130, no. 2 (August 2017): e74–80. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000002234.

Beltz, Martha A., Vanessa H. Sacks, Kristin A. Moore, and Mary Terzian. “State Policy and Teen Childbearing: A Review of Research Studies.” Journal of Adolescent Health 56, no. 2 (February 1, 2015): 130–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.11.001.

Cederbaum, Julie A., Chung H. Jeong, Chaoyue Yuan, and Jungeun Olivia Lee. “Sex and Substance Use Behaviors among Children of Teen Mothers: A Systematic Review.” Journal of Adolescence 79 (February 1, 2020): 208–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2020.01.008.

Chin, Helen B., Theresa Ann Sipe, Randy Elder, Shawna L. Mercer, Sajal K. Chattopadhyay, Verughese Jacob, Holly R. Wethington, et al. “The Effectiveness of Group-Based Comprehensive Risk-Reduction and Abstinence Education Interventions to Prevent or Reduce the Risk of Adolescent Pregnancy, Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and Sexually Transmitted Infections: Two Systematic Reviews for the Guide to Community Preventive Services.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 42, no. 3 (March 1, 2012): 272–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2011.11.006.

Hamilton, Brady E. “QuickStats: Birth Rates for Females Aged 15–19 Years, by Age Group — National Vital Statistics System, United States, 1991–2021.” MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 72, no. 3 (January 20, 2023): 83. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7203a8.

Hamilton, Brady E., Lauren M. Rossen, and Amy M. Branum. “Teen Birth Rates for Urban and Rural Areas in the United States, 2007-2015.” NCHS Data Brief No. 264. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, November 2016. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27849147/.

Jutte, Douglas P., Noralou P. Roos, Marni D. Brownell, Gemma Briggs, Leonard MacWilliam, and Leslie L. Roos. “The Ripples of Adolescent Motherhood: Social, Educational, and Medical Outcomes for Children of Teen and Prior Teen Mothers.” Academic Pediatrics 10, no. 5 (September 1, 2010): 293–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2010.06.008.

Osterman, Michelle, Brady Hamilton, Joyce Martin, Anne Driscoll, and Claudia Valenzuela. “Births: Final Data for 2020.” National Vital Statistics Reports 70, no. 17 (February 7, 2022). https://doi.org/10.15620/cdc:112078.

Peipert, Jeffrey F., Qiuhong Zhao, Laura Meints, Benjamin J. Peipert, Colleen A. Redding, and Jenifer E. Allsworth. “Adherence to Dual-Method Contraceptive Use.” Contraception 84, no. 3 (September 2011): 252–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2011.01.023.

Romero, Lisa, Karen Pazol, Lee Warner, Shanna Cox, Charlan Kroelinger, Ghenet Besera, Anna Brittain, Taleria R. Fuller, Emilia Koumans, and Wanda Barfield. “Reduced Disparities in Birth Rates Among Teens Aged 15–19 Years — United States, 2006–2007 and 2013–2014.” MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 65, no. 16 (April 29, 2016): 409–14. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6516a1.