“Teenage motherhood:” just like adult motherhood

“Teenage sex” and pregnancy are often described 
as out of control, the result of adolescent hormones, 
inability to control impulses, ignorance about sex, 
and sexual images in the media. However, the truth 
is that ever since reliable statistics were first compiled 
in 1917 (when the Birth Registration area first
covered more than half the nation) through the most 
recent (1999), teenage birth rates have paralleled 
adult birth rates with uncanny precision. Whatever
drives adult birth trends also drives teenage trends, 
partly because most births among teen mothers are 
fathered by adult men 20 and older. The highest 
birth rates among both teens and adults were in the 
late 1950s; since then, birth rates have fallen 47% 
among adults and 49% among teens. Birth rates 
among the youngest teens are very low and are 
affected primarily by the falling age of puberty. 
There is no evidence efforts to “prevent” teenage 
motherhood are affected by anything other than 
factors that deter adult motherhood. In fact, adult 
birth rates and poverty predict teenage birth rates 
by year and locale with 95% accuracy.


Live births per 1,000 females by age,
U.S., 1917-1999
		Age of mother
Year		10-14	15-19	20-44
1915			
				
		0.3	47.6	142.1
		0.4	48.2	140.0
		0.3	44.1	128.4
1920		0.3	53.5	134.7
		0.4	59.2	134.6
		0.4	55.3	123.8
		0.4	56.1	122.1
		0.5	59.9	120.8
1925		0.5	58.6	116.9
		0.5	62.8	111.0
		0.6	59.2	108.6
		0.6	58.0	101.9
		0.5	54.7	 97.6
1930		0.6	57.4	 97.3
		0.5	50.6	 93.2
		0.5	48.2	 90.1
		0.5	45.3	 84.4
		0.5	47.3	 86.7
1935		0.6	47.5	 84.9
		0.6	47.0	 83.3
		0.6	48.3	 84.4
		0.6	49.9	 86.4
		0.6	51.7	 83.8
1940		0.6	53.0	 86.2
		0.6	55.4	 90.1
		0.7	59.4	 99.5
		0.7	59.9	101.8
		0.7	52.7	 96.2
1945		0.7	51.0	 93.3
		0.6	59.0	110.5
		0.8	78.2	120.5
		0.9	80.8	112.9
		0.9	81.9	112.5
1950		0.9	80.6	110.7
		0.9	86.7	115.8
		1.1	85.5	118.8
		0.9	87.7	120.0
		1.0	90.1	123.1
1955		0.9	89.9	123.7
		1.0	94.1	126.2
		1.0	95.8	128.1
		0.9	91.1	126.1
		0.9	90.1	126.5
1960		0.8	89.1	124.8
		0.9	88.7	123.6
		0.9	81.3	119.5
		0.9	76.5	116.3
		0.9	72.9	113.0
1965		0.8	70.4	103.6
		0.9	70.6	 96.9
		0.9	67.9	 92.9
		1.0	66.1	 90.9
		1.1	66.1	 92.0
1970		1.2	68.0	 92.6
		1.2	64.7	 86.4
		1.2	62.0	 76.3
		1.3	59.7	 71.6
		1.3	58.1	 70.9
1975		1.3	56.3	 69.3
		1.3	53.5	 69.0
		1.2	53.7	 71.3
		1.2	52.4	 70.0
		1.2	53.4	 72.0
1980		1.1	53.0	 71.9
		1.1	52.7	 70.5
		1.1	52.9	 70.3
		1.1	51.7	 68.4
		1.1	50.9	 68.1
1985		1.2	51.3	 68.9
		1.2	50.6	 67.9
		1.2	51.1	 68.2
		1.3	53.6	 70.6
		1.4	58.1	 70.9
1990		1.4	59.9	 72.6
		1.4	62.1	 70.6
		1.4	60.7	 68.6
		1.4	59.8	 67.7
		1.4	57.9	 66.8
1995		1.3	56.8	 66.9
		1.2	54.7	 67.4
		1.1	52.3	 67.2
		1.0	51.1	 68.1
		1.0	49.6	 68.0
2000

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Natality, 
Vital Statistics of the United States (1937- ); Birth 
Statistics (1905-36). Washington: US Department of 
Health and Human Services. Populations from US 
Bureau of the Census.