State Variation in Rates of Adolescent Pregnancy and Childbearing. Final Report [and] Executive Summary.

Recent declines in funding for contraceptive services have led to questions regarding the role of contraceptive services and social policy in shaping adolescent reproductive behavior. This 2-year study examined the impact of state-level policies on adolescent pregnancy and fertility. Data were obtained from a variety of sources, including the Guttmacher Institute and the Department of Health and Human Services. Among the findings are the following: (1) greater state public funding for contraceptive services predicts lower adolescent fertility and lower non-marital fertility;(2) state public abortion funding is associated with lower childbearing rates, particularly for African-American teens, and with higher abortion rates; (3) state laws restricting minors' abortion availability are unrelated to teen birth rates, abortion rates, or teen pregnancy resolution; (4) coordinated state-level pregnancy prevention programs in 1985 predicted lower 1988 pregnancy rates; (5) states with higher teen poverty had higher non-marital teen childbearing rates; (6) AFDC benefits were weakly associated with higher White unmarried teen childbearing but not African-American teen childbearing; (7) the proportion of the White population that is Hispanic is associated with higher nonmarital birth rates among White teens 15-17; however, the proportion of the state population that is African-American does not influence the rates of teen fertility among Blacks; (8) the proportion of Blacks who are college-educated significantly influenced childbearing rates and non-marital childbearing among Black teens; (9) social disorganization was correlated with teen childbearing, pregnancy, and abortion; (10) the proportion of fundamentalists contributed to fewer non-marital births and fewer abortions among White teens; (11) women's labor force participation was related to higher teen childbearing; and (12) prior fertility was the strongest predictor of later teen fertility. (Thirty-five tables detail results. Contains 56 references.) (Author/KB)