Best Birth Control Options

Since its all-time high in 1990, teenage pregnancy has been steadily declining year after year due mostly to increased condom use. Since pregnancy rates for teens not using any form of birth control approach 90%, it is important to teach teenagers the basics of birth control and safe sex. The following teenage pregnancy statistics give an indication of just how far we have to go.

Teenage Pregnancy Statistics – National Level

• Each year, over 750,000 teenage women between the ages of 15-19 become pregnant.


• As of 2002, the teenage birth rate stood at 43 births per 1000 teenage women, down from a high of 61.8 births per 1000 teenage women in 1991.


• Broken down by race, white teenage women experienced the lowest birth rates in 2002 at 28.3 per 1000 while Hispanics experienced the highest, at 83.4.


• African Americans experienced a middle-of-the-road birth rate of 66.6 in 2002.


• While improving, the U.S. still has the highest teenage pregnancy rates, abortion rates, and child birth rates of any developed nation on Earth.

Teenage Pregnancy Statistics – State Level

• Teenage birth rates are highest in Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico, and other southern states.


• Teenage birth rates are lowest in Maine, Vermont, North Dakota, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.


• Over 50% of teenage pregnancies in the states of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia end in abortion.

Risk Factors For Teenage Pregnancy

Teenagers are much more likely to become pregnant if exposed to the following risk factors:

• Begin dating at an unusually young age


• Drop out of school


• Are raised in poverty


• Being the child of a teenage mother


• Abuse alcohol or drugs


• Been a victim of sexual assault or abuse