P&P October 2016

Ongoing Progress in Reducing Teen Pregnancy

By Jaime Muñoz, Rebecca Griesse, and Phil Basso

A cross the nation the rates of teen pregnancy are dropping at staggering rates. Between 1991 and 2015 there was a 64 percent reduction in the teen birth rate. 1 While we can celebrate this accomplishment, we know that the country still faces huge disparities between race/ethnicities, socioeco- nomic status, geographic locations, and ages. We also see similar dispari- ties between youth in foster care and youth not in care. The Midwest Study found that youth in foster care were more than twice as likely to be pregnant by age 19 as youth not in care. 2 Recent data from the Children’s Data Network at University of Southern California found that almost 30 percent of California youth in foster care gave birth before age 20. 3 Births to adolescents in care were 60 percent higher than the general population. The rate of maltreatment of children born to mothers in foster care was two times higher than children born to mothers not in care. And most recently, the CalYOUTH Study showed that half of young women in care reported being pregnant at least once by age 19. 4 These alarming differences between youth in care and youth not in care highlight the need to continue a sharp focus on teen pregnancy prevention services for this population.

Illustration by Chris Campbell

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