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U.S. Teen Births Fall to Record Low
In an AP news story from August, 2001, the National Center for Health Statistics reported that the teen birth rate fell to the lowest rate in 60 years, which is as long as the statistics have been kept. 2000 was the 9th straight year the rate declined. It has dropped 22 percent since 1991. Pregnancy rates, which account for abortion, have also fallen.
Analysts attributed the decline to factors such as more awareness of HIV/AIDS, more effective forms of contraception, increased abstinence, and the economic boom of the 90s, which led many teens to put off starting a family so they could take jobs.
Bill Albert, a spokesman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy said, "The short answer is less sex and more contraception. There's plenty of evidence to suggest that teens, believe it or not, are taking a more cautious attitude towards casual sex."
Teen births were highest in the 1950s, when couples got married much younger than today. The nation's highest teen birth rate was in 1957, roughly 96 births per 1,000 females aged 15-19. In 2000, the rate was 48.7 births per 1,000.