| National Statistics on Teen Pregnancy from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (www.teenpregnancy.org) • 34 in 100 girls get pregnant at least once before age 20. This number has declined, from 40 in 100, in recent years. (Pregnancy data include all pregnancies, regardless of outcome.)
• The US is number one…unfortunately - with higher teen pregnancy rates than any other fully industrialized nation. US pregnancy rates are nearly twice as high as rates in Canada and England and seven to eight times as high as rates in Japan and the Netherlands.
• The consequences of teen motherhood are many. Girls are less likely to complete high school, have increased dependence on welfare, face single parenthood, are more likely to have more children sooner on a limited income, and are more likely to abuse or neglect the child.
• Children of teen mothers face many risks. These include growing up without a father, low birthweight and prematurity, school failure, mental retardation, insufficient health care, abuse and neglect, poverty and welfare dependence.
• Only 32% of teen mothers get their high school diploma. In 1997, nearly 70% of teen mothers had not attained a high school diploma by age 30.
• The children of teen mothers are at greater risk of abuse and neglect. Children of teen mothers are more than twice as likely to be abused or neglected.
• Taxpayers spend about $7 billion nationally (over $3000 per teen parent) on teen childbearing. This is in the form of lost tax revenue, public assistance expenditures, health care costs for the children of teen mothers, foster care costs and criminal justice costs.
• Approximately one in four sexually active teens contracts a sexually transmitted infection (STI) each year. There are over 30 known STIs, some of which can be fatal if left untreated.
| |  Youth in foster care are
at significant risk
for teen pregnancy.
A recent research
brief published by
the National Campaign
indicates that teen
girls in foster care are
2.5 times more likely
to have been pregnant
by age 19 than those
not in foster care.
The National Campaign
has been working with
partner organizations for
over two years now
to highlight the connection
between teen pregnancy
and foster care. This focus on foster care
youth has already helped
spark new attention at
the national, state,
and local level to a
population at very high
risk of teen pregnancy
and we hope that it will
forge stronger partnerships
between those working
in the child welfare
and teen pregnancy fields.
*Kommon Ground is a program of JOURNEYS, Inc. Child Placement Services www.journeyscps.org Copyright 2010-11 | | Colorado Statistics on Teen Pregnancy from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy • Colorado ranks 29th out of the 50 states in teen pregnancy rates (as of 2002). Nevada ranks 50th (worst), North Dakota ranks #1.
• Pueblo County currently ranks third in teen birth rates, behind Denver and Adams counties. We were #1 in 2000.
• In 2004, 327 babies were born to teen mothers (10-19 years) in Pueblo County. It is estimated that only 104 of these moms will continue their education to receive a high school diploma; 223 will not.
• Latinas have higher teen pregnancy rates than non-Hispanics. Nationally and locally.
• Most teen births are to unmarried teens. About 80% of teens age 15-19.
• In 2005, 225 girls under age 18 had positive pregnancy tests at the Health Department. There were 275 18-19 years old with positive pregnancy tests the same year.
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