In 2023, the birth rate among teenagers and young adult women aged 15 to 19 stood at 13.1 births per every thousand women. This statistic shows the U.S. birth rate among teenagers and young adult women, aged 15-19 years, between 1991 and 2023. Teenage pregnancy and birth Teenage pregnancy and births are related to a number of negative outcomes. Babies born to teenage mothers are more likely to be premature and have a low birth weight, and teen mothers often experience gestational hypertension and anemia. Additionally, there are significant adverse effects on socioeconomic and educational outcomes for teenage parents. Teenage pregnancy is usually unplanned and due to the negative consequences mentioned above the ratio of legal abortions to live births in the United States is highest among teenagers. In 2022, there were 374 legal abortions per 1,000 live births among girls and young women aged 15 to 19 years, compared a ratio of 284 legal abortions per 1,000 live births among women aged 20 to 24 years. Contraceptive use among teens Contraceptive use is the best way for sexually active teenagers to avoid unwanted pregnancies, but use and accessibility remain problems in the United States. In 2021, only 23 percent of high school girls in the U.S. used the birth control pill to prevent pregnancy before their last sexual intercourse. Use of the birth control pill to prevent pregnancy is highest among white teenagers and lowest among Black teenagers, with only 11 percent of Black teenagers reporting use in 2021. Condom use is more common among high school students, but still only around half of sexually active students reported using a condom during their last sexual intercourse in 2021.

In 2020, the District of Columbia had the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the United States, followed by Mississippi and Arkansas. At that time, there were around 45 pregnancies among teens aged 15 to 19 per 1,000 in the District of Columbia. Teenage pregnancy Teenage pregnancy rates in the United States have decreased in recent years. In 2020, there were around 26.7 teenage pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19 years. This number was almost 118 per 1,000 women in the year 1990. It is believed that the causes of this decrease include more teens abstaining from sex and increased use of birth control among those teens who are sexually active. Contraception use The use of contraception among sexually active teens is vital in reducing the rates of teen pregnancy. However, in 2021, only 52 percent of sexually active teens reported they used a condom during their last sexual intercourse. Furthermore, only 23 percent of sexually active female high school students were using the birth control bill to prevent pregnancy. Access to contraception and taboos surrounding teen sexual activity remain barriers to contraceptive use among teens in many areas of the United States.

Indicators in the Child and maternal health profiles and Sexual and reproductive health profiles have been updated. The profiles give data at a local, regional and national level to inform the development and provision of family planning, antenatal and maternity care.

This release updates indicators relating to:

• conceptions, abortions and birth rates for women under 18 and conceptions for women under 16
• ethnicity and age of mothers
• premature births
• admissions of babies aged under 14 days
• deliveries by caesarean section
• ectopic pregnancy
• pelvic inflammatory disease

Indicators which were due to have been updated in November 2021 have also been updated for:

• general fertility rates
• neonatal and post-neonatal deaths
• stillbirths
• multiple births
• low birthweight and very low birthweight of all babies

These indicators were not updated in 2021 because the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to delays in birth and death registrations which has delayed the publication of statistics by the Office for National Statistics which are the source data for these indicators.

In 2021 there were 43,116 teenage conceptions in England and Wales, one of the fewest number of teenage conceptions in the provided time period. The number of teenage conceptions has been falling since 2007, when there over 106,319 teenage pregnancies.

In 2022, the rate of abortion among adolescent women aged 19 years in the United States was around 12.4 per 1,000 population. Abortion in the United States remains a controversial and divisive subject. In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the historic court ruling that gave women the right to abortion. Now states are allowed to completely ban the procedure if they so choose. However, despite the ruling and subsequent abortion bans in many states, polls show the majority of U.S. adults still favor the legalization of abortion. How many abortions are there in the U.S. per year? In 2022, there were around 613,000 legal abortions in the United States. This was one of the lowest numbers recorded since the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973. The rate of abortions per 100 live births in 2022 was 19.9, a significant decrease from a rate of 30.6 reported in 1997. The states with the highest rates of abortion in 2022 were New Mexico, Illinois, and Kansas, while Missouri and South Dakota had the lowest rates. Abortion among adolescents The rate of abortion among adolescent women in the United States aged 15 to 19 years has also decreased over the past decade. In 2013, there were around 8.2 abortions among adolescent women per 1,000 population. By the year 2022, this figure had dropped to 5.4 per 1,000 population. The majority of abortions among adolescents occur at week nine or less of gestation. The birth control pill is one of the safest and most effective ways to prevent unwanted pregnancy, but only around 23 percent of female high school students who were sexually active were using the pill in 2021.

This table provides an overview of the key figures on health and care available on StatLine. All figures are taken from other tables on StatLine, either directly or through a simple conversion. In the original tables, breakdowns by characteristics of individuals or other variables are possible. The period after the year of review before data become available differs between the data series. The number of exam passes/graduates in year t is the number of persons who obtained a diploma in school/study year starting in t-1 and ending in t. Data available from: 2001 Status of the figures: 2024: The available figures are definite. 2023: Most available figures are definite Figures are provisional for: - perinatal mortality at pregnancy duration at least 24 weeks; - diagnoses known to the general practitioner; - supplied drugs; - AWBZ/Wlz-funded long term care; - persons employed in health and welfare; - persons employed in healthcare; - Mbo health care graduates; - Hbo nursing graduates / medicine graduates (university); - expenditures on health and welfare; - average distance to facilities. 2022: Most available figures are definite, figures are provisional for: - hospital admissions by some diagnoses; - physicians and nurses employed in care; - persons employed in health and welfare; - persons employed in healthcare; - expenditures on health and welfare; - profitability and operating results at institutions. 2021: Most available figures are definite, figures are provisional for: - expenditures on health and welfare. 2020 and earlier: All available figures are definite. Changes as of 18 december 2024: - Distance to facilities: the figures withdrawn on 5 June have been replaced (unchanged). - Youth care: the previously published final results for 2021 and 2022 have been adjusted due to improvements in the processing. - Due to a revision of the statistics Expenditure on health and welfare 2021, figures for expenditure on health and welfare care have been replaced from 2021 onwards. - Due to the revision of the National Accounts, the figures on persons employed in health and welfare have been replaced for all years. - AWBZ/Wlz-funded long term care: from 2015, the series Wlz residential care including total package at home has been replaced by total Wlz care. This series fits better with the chosen demarcation of indications for Wlz care. More recent figures have been added for: - crude birth rate; - live births to teenage mothers; - causes of death; - perinatal mortality at pregnancy duration at least 24 weeks; - life expectancy in perceived good health; - diagnoses known to the general practitioner; - supplied drugs; - AWBZ/Wlz-funded long term care; - youth care; - persons employed in health and welfare; - persons employed in healthcare; - expenditures on health and welfare; - average distance to facilities. When will new figures be published? New figures will be published in July 2025.

In 2022, there were 5.4 reported abortions per 1,000 teenage girls aged 15 to 19 years in the United States. This statistic shows the rate of abortion among adolescent women aged 15 to 19 years in the U.S. from 2013 to 2022.

A 2021 survey of American high school students found that of those who were sexually active and engaging in sex with opposite-sex partners, 20.9 percent were using the birth control pill to prevent pregnancy. Prevalence was highest among female students.

In the period 2023/24, 7.6 percent of pregnant women in England smoked at the time of delivery. The share of pregnant women smoking has decreased since 2006 when almost sixteen percent of pregnant women did so. Smoking during pregnancy can lead to many birth complications, so it is advised that the expecting mother quits smoking for the health of the baby. Situation north of the borderAs in England, Scotland’s share of pregnant women smoking has been declining, although the prevalence remains higher than those in England. In 2022, 12 percent of pregnant women in Scotland smoked during pregnancy, in the year 2000 this share was at almost 29 percent. Younger mothers more likely to smokeIn both England and Scotland, the prevalence of pregnant smokers increases down the age groups. In England, 28 percent of mothers under 20 smoked while pregnant in 2021/22. While in Scotland in the same year, 27.6 percent of teenage mothers smoked when pregnant.

In 2022, the states with the highest rates of abortion per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 years in the United States were New Mexico, Illinois, and Kansas. The states with the lowest rates of abortion were Missouri and South Dakota. Abortion differences among the states In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade allowing states to restrict the practice of abortion or outright ban it completely. A number of states immediately banned the procedure through trigger laws they had in place in anticipation of the ruling. Even before the ruling, abortion accessibility and rates varied greatly from state to state, but this difference has become even more pronounced. For example, in 2022, Florida had an abortion rate of 20.5 per 1,000 women, while the rate in Missouri was just .1. Florida had the highest total number of abortions that year, followed by New York and Illinois. While Florida reported around 82,581 abortions in 2022, there were just 88 such procedures in Missouri. Public opinion on abortion In the United States, the debate surrounding abortion is often divided among those who are “pro-life” and think abortion should be restricted or banned and those who are “pro-choice” and believe the decision to abort a pregnancy should be up to the woman. Gallup polls show the distribution of people in the United States who are pro-life or pro-choice has fluctuated over the years but in 2023 around 52 percent of respondents stated they were pro-choice while 44 percent said they were pro-life. Older respondents are more likely to express views limiting access to abortion, while younger people are more likely to believe abortion should be legal under any circumstance. However, just a small minority of people of all ages believe abortion should be illegal in all circumstances.