Teenage Pregnancy Prevention: Statistics and Programs

To contact us Click HERE


CarmenSolomon-Fears
Specialist in Social Policy

In2011, U.S. teen births accounted for 8.4% of all births and 18.4% of allnonmarital births. The birth rate for U.S. teenagers (ages 15 through 19)increased in 2006 and 2007 after a steady decline since 1991. However, in2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 the teen birth rate dropped below the 2006 teenbirth rate, reversing the two-year upward trend. Although the birth rate forU.S. teens has dropped in 18 of the last 20 years, it remains higher thanthe teen birth rate of most industrialized nations. Preventing teenpregnancy is generally considered a priority among policymakers and thepublic because of its high economic, social, and health costs for teen parentsand their families.

The Adolescent Family Life (AFL) program, created in 1981 (Title XX of thePublic Health Services Act), was the first federal program to focus onadolescents. It was created to support demonstration projects that providecomprehensive and innovative health, education, and social services topregnant and parenting adolescents, their infants, male partners, and theirfamilies. From 1998 to 2009, federal teen pregnancy prevention efforts inthe AFL program and in general relied heavily on using abstinence-onlyeducation as their primary tool. The appropriation for the AFL program was$16.7 million in FY2010 and $12.4 million for FY2011. The AFL program did notreceive any funding for FY2012.

P.L. 111-117 (the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010) included a newdiscretionary Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program, funded at $110million for FY2010, which provides grants and contracts, on a competitivebasis, to public and private entities to fund “medically accurate and ageappropriate” programs that reduce teen pregnancy. P.L. 112-10 (the Departmentof Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011) includedfunding of $109.2 million for the TPP program for FY2011 ($104.8 millionfor the program; $4.4 million for evaluation). P.L. 112-74 (the OmnibusAppropriations Act, 2012) included level funding of $104.790 million forthe TPP program for FY2012 and increased funding for program evaluation to $8.455million.

P.L. 111-148 (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) established a newstate formula grant program and appropriated $375 million at $75 millionper year for five years (FY2010- FY2014) to enable states to operate a newPersonal Responsibility Education Program (PREP), which is a comprehensiveapproach to teen pregnancy prevention that educates adolescents on bothabstinence and contraception to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitteddiseases. PREP also provides youth with information on several adulthoodpreparation subjects (e.g., healthy relationships, adolescent development,financial literacy, parent-child communication, educational and careersuccess, and healthy life skills).

The Title V Abstinence Education Block Grant to states was authorized underP.L. 104-193 (the Personal Responsibility and Work OpportunityReconciliation Act of 1996). The Title V Abstinence Education program is aformula grant program, specifically for abstinence-only education, fundedby mandatory spending. The program’s funding expired on June 30, 2009, but P.L.111-148 reauthorized the program and restored funding to it at the previousannual level of $50 million for each of FY2010-FY2014. P.L. 112-74included an additional $5 million for competitive grants forabstinence-only education.

This report briefly examines some of the data collected by the National Centerfor Health Statistics on teenage childbearing, offers potential reasonsfor high teen pregnancy and birth rates, and provides basic information onfederal programs whose purpose is primarily to delay sexual activity amongteenagers and to reduce teen pregnancy.


Date of Report: November 1, 2012
Number of Pages: 22
Order Number: RS20301
Price: $29.95

To Order:


RS20301.pdf to use the SECURE SHOPPING CART

e-mail congress@pennyhill.com

Phone301-253-0881

For email and phone orders, provide a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover cardnumber, expiration date, and name on the card. Indicate whether you want e-mailor postal delivery. Phone orders are preferred and receive priority processing.