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The progress the nation has made over the last few decades in reducing teen pregnancy has been extraordinary. After years of increases in the 1970s and 1980s, the teen pregnancy rate peaked in 1990 and has declined steadily since.1 Today, teen pregnancy, birth and abortion rates have reached historic lows. What is more, teen pregnancy rates have fallen in all 50 states and among all racial and ethnic groups.
In 2010, some 614,000 U.S. teens became pregnant (which translates to a rate of 57 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15–19).1 The overwhelming majority—82%—reported that their pregnancy was unplanned.2 Put another way, about 6% of adolescents in the United States became pregnant in 2010.1 This marks a 51% decline in U.S. teen pregnancy from a peak in 1990, including a 15% drop between 2008 and 2010. Similarly, the country’s teen birthrate declined 44% from a peak in 1991 and its teen abortion rate declined 66% from a 1988 peak (see chart).
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