Latino Teen Birth Rates Reach Record Lows

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According to figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the birthrate among American teenagers has fallen to an all-time low. Once at crisis levels in the 1990s, the past decade has seen unprecedented declines and has taken place in all regions of the country and among all races, including Latinos, where numbers have been historically high.

The birthrate among Latino teens has declined by nearly 50% since 2006. Theories on why this shift has occurred range from improved approaches to sex education and the proliferation of broadband Internet. Access to contraception is also seen as a key component to this new downward trend.

“There has been a change in social norms that has happened in the past 20 years, and the idea of not having sex or delaying sex is now something that can be okay,” said Bill Albert, chief program officer for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Birthrates for all teens have been declining for a decade, but the decline looks to be accelerating. Abstaining or waiting to have sex is also seen as a large factor in why the numbers for teen pregnancies are lowering. Peer pressure, in many cases, is now working in the opposite of the way it has in the past.

“We think this is a very healthy trend,” said Veronica Gomez-Lobo, director of pediatric gynecology at Children’s National Medical Center.

While the overall birthrate decline is a positive trend, there still exist disparities. The CDC analysis looked at teens age 15-19 and found large disparities in racial, ethnic, regional, and socioeconomic factors. The birthrates for Latino teens, though they are lower than they have been in the past, are still twice as high as those for white teens.

These disparities were reflected in several states. In New Jersey, for example, the birthrates for white teens was 4.8 births per 1,000, well below the national average. However, for Latinos, the birthrate was 31.3. The CDC also noted that the places with the highest birthrates tend to have higher unemployment, lower income and less education. Teen birthrates in 2013-2014 at the county level across the nation ranged from 3.1 to 119 per 1,000.

“The United States has made remarkable progress in reducing both teen pregnancy and racial and ethnic differences,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said, “[The] reality is, too many American teens are still having babies.”

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