Teen Pregnancy and Births in the United States

Despite recent and encouraging declines, the United States still has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and birth among comparable nations.
Nearly four out of 10 girls still become pregnant at least once before they reach age 20. Nearly 1 million teen pregnancies occur annually, some 55 each hour.
Four-fifths of teen births are to unmarried teens. In fact, nearly half of all non-marital first births occur to teens.

Why It Matters

Teen pregnancy is closely linked to a host of critical social issues-welfare dependency and overall child well-being, out-of-wedlock births, responsible fatherhood, and work force development, in particular.
Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school and more likely to be on welfare.
Children of teen mothers are at a significantly increased risk of poverty, welfare dependency, poor school performance, growing up without a father, low birth weight and prematurity, and abuse and neglect.

Resources:
National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (www.teenpregnancy.org)
National Conference of State Legislatures (http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/adoles.htm)