Facts at a Glance.

This publication reports trends in teen childbearing in the Nation, in each state, and in large cities using data from the 2000 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Rates of teenage childbearing steadily declined during the 1990s, reaching a record low in 2000. Rates declined for both younger and older teens and for blacks, whites, and Hispanics in all states and in the District of Columbia. Declines in teen birth rates are not due to an increase in abortions but rather resulted from a lower proportion of teens having sex and a greater use of contraception. NCHS data showed that the teen marital birth rate declined by 26% between 1990 and 1999. International Teen Birth Rate data point to the fact that the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rates among developed countries with pregnancy information available. Tables 1, 2, and 3 list statistics for each state for number of births; age of mother; births to whites, blacks, and Hispanics; and existence of coordinated pregnancy prevention policy in public schools. (JDM)