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I actually think MTV's "16 and Pregnant" and "Teen Mom" had something to do with. I read an article where it said 80% of teens had seen the show at least once, and while it makes being a teen mom look glamorous sometimes, there are plenty of times when the girls on it have doors closed to them that would be open were they not teen moms.
I know it sounds crazy, but I really do think that if 80% of teens have seen the show, it could have something to do with the falling teen birth rate.
OK, "16 and Pregnant" first aired in mid-2009. So assuming your theory is correct, the effect would only cover the second half of 2009. Furthermore, that leaves 18 other years where there was no such TV show where teen birth rates still fell.
Teen births in the US have fallen continuously from a high of 115 per 1,000 in 1990 to 39 today. A 66% reduction seems like a move in the positive direction to me..
(By the way your "perspective" numbers are from 1998...)
Wrong link, they had 2005 data.
Reduction is a move in the right direction...
However, we're still significantly higher than any other industrialized country.
A move in the right direction, unlike the OP, doesn't mean that it's not a significant problem.
Since when did the inability to sufficiently raise a child stop anyone in this country from getting pregnant?
I'd sooner blame MTV than the economy. Ridiculous.
Birth rates dropped significantly during the Great Depression. I don't think teens are completely unaware of the economic situation. Now granted, I've raised kids, and I know some of them are pretty scattered, but they're usually vaguely aware of the world outside. Plus, as has been documented in this thread, teen pregnancies have been declining for years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HappyTexan
I think abortions went up. Just my opinion.
You can google the numbers, but I believe I've read that both the teen birth rate and the teen abortion rate have gone down, meaning fewer teen pregnancies altogether.
We can argue over it all day. Let's just be glad it's finally happening. That is, until some more religious wingnuts get upset about it, and start eliminating sex education again.
To the those of you mentioning a possibility of increased abortion rate, I'm not so sure about that since the younger generation is increasingly more pro-life than the older generation (according to polls I've seen). The CDC does report that teens are having less sex, 54% of high school students report having had sex in 1990, now it's about 45%. I do remember reading a couple months ago that contraceptive use is increasing among teens and in fact, teens are more likely than adults to use protection now. And a small but growing number of teens are abstaining until marriage. Note the purity movement.
The teenage birth rate finally falls to the lowest on record. Can we now stop with the mass panic over it? Are people still going to be saying that the abstinence only education is leading to an increase?
It's a good bet the focus on abstinence only under Bush did lead to an increase in births under his term as your article points out.
Teenage births had fallen for 14 years until increasing 5 percent from 2005 to 2007, the agency has reported. Since 1991, the birth rate among girls ages 15 to 19 has dropped 37 percent.
I say recessions can lead to more births. You know, couples stuck at their home with no money trying to pass the time...?
On a national level, it may seem to drop..but for some locals, it can be devastating.
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