PREVENTING TEEN PREGNANCY: NATIONAL, STATE AND LOCAL LANDSCAPE WHERE WE ARE
In most places around the country, teen pregnancy is down. After peaking in 1991, the national teen birth rate went down 64% by 2015.1 Preventing at least 428,000 births to teen parents saved $4.4 billion in public spending in 2015 alone. By delaying pregnancy and parenting just one to three years, young people are more likely to access economic resources, including finishing school, ensuring a brighter future for themselves and the children they may have someday. For all teens, systemic changes that increase access to resources defined in the social determinants of health can dramatically improve life options for them and for their children. Texas—and particularly Dallas-- are the lowest achievers of the national downward trend in teen pregnancy, unfortunately. Of the twenty largest counties in America in 2017, Dallas County had the very highest teen birth rate. When ranking these largest counties by teen birth rate, of the top 5, 4 were counties in Texas. As high as the Dallas County rate was, several zip codes within the county have rates two to three times higher. A study of the 2017 STD Surveillance Report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that Dallas County saw the highest percentage increase in the nation for cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea between 2016 and 2017.
BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH I SEE PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT IT TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, IT’S AMONG THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES. IT’S NOT ON A GRAND SCALE TO THE COMMUNITY AND THE LEADERS RUNNING IT. IT’S STILL SEEN AS A VERY TABOO TOPIC AND I DON’T SEE WHY.” --DALLAS HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR, AGE 18
US TEEN BIRTH RATES (YEAR 2017) 20 Largest Counties Based on Age 15-19 Female Population Listed by Age 15-19 Birth Rate 35 31.8 30
27.4
27.1
25
23.5
23.3 21.5
Births to Teens
20
21.3
21
19.3 15.9
15
10
14.7
14.4
13.3
12.9
12.9
11.7
10.6 7.5
7.3 4
5
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Source:CDC Wonder US State and County Birth data
4 • ntarupt.org
TEEN BIRTH RATE: BIRTHS PER 1000 FEMAILS OF THE AGE 15-19 AGE GROUP IN THE COUNTY
