Virginia Teen Birth Rate Drops Sharply: CDC

By TANYA SNYDER (Patch Staff)

The rate of Virginia teenagers having babies dropped more than 40 percent in the past decade, according to a new study, with abstinence and better birth control options contributing to the decline.

A study the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionreleased Thursday says that nationally, the teen birth rate has fallen 40 percent since 2006, with the most dramatic drop among black and Hispanic teens, who have cut their teen birth rates almost in half over the last decade.

Virginia's birth rate for 2013–2014 was 19.3 births per 1,000 among females ages 15 to 19. That’s a 43.6 percent decline from 2006-07.

Racial and economic disparities still remain. National, Black and Hispanic teens are still twice as likely as white teens to have babies, and in some states, up to three times as likely.

Bill Albert, a spokesman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, credits three main factors with the drop in teen births:

MTV. Millions of teens watch MTV’s shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom and see them as a cautionary tale. Economists have found that up to one-third of the decline in teen births over an 18-month period could be attributed to 16 and Pregnant alone.

Low-maintenance birth control. Teen use of IUDs and implant forms of birth control has increased seven-fold, though experts say it’s still far too low. Far more teens could take advantage of these easy, nearly foolproof methods of contraception.

Peer pressure. Teens are likely to do what they think their peers are doing – whether that’s having sex, practicing safe sex, or getting pregnant. Albert says a “virtuous cycle” has emerged that’s keeping teen birth rates down.

Albert says evidence-based (as opposed to abstinence-based) sex education has had an impact too, including the Obama administration’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program.

Poverty and teen pregnancy have historically been linked, and the CDC report emphasizes that “[h]igher unemployment and lower income and education are more common in communities with the highest teen birth rates, regardless of race.” But poverty has been rising in the years that teen births have been declining. So although teens living in poverty are still more likely to get pregnant than their more well-off peers, they’re still less likely to get pregnant than they used to be.

The CDC report specifically deals with teen births, but teen pregnancy is way down too, as are teen abortion rates.

Click here to see how teen birth rates have changed in any state.

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