Thank you, birth control: Teen pregnancy rate, birth rate and abortion rate on the decline
And while we're at it: Thank you, sex education
KATIE MCDONOUGH Share 22
According to a new study from the Guttmacher Institute, the teen pregnancy rate, birth rate and abortion rate each have sharply declined since hitting historic highs in the 1990s. Researchers found that the teen pregnancy rate dropped 51 percent between 1990 and 2010, the teen birthrate declined 41 percent during the same time period and the teen abortion rate dropped a dramatic 66 percent. As the Los Angeles Times notes, the declines were documented across racial and ethnic groups.
“Further research will be needed to understand the behavioral, social and economic factors that are affecting these trends,” researchers noted in the study, but they also have a pretty good guess what may be fueling the trend: increased access to sex education and affordable birth control.
Kathryn Kost, the lead author of the study, called the findings “great news.
http://www.salon.com/2014/05/06/tha...ortion_rate_on_the_decline/?source=newsletter
And while we're at it: Thank you, sex education
KATIE MCDONOUGH Share 22
According to a new study from the Guttmacher Institute, the teen pregnancy rate, birth rate and abortion rate each have sharply declined since hitting historic highs in the 1990s. Researchers found that the teen pregnancy rate dropped 51 percent between 1990 and 2010, the teen birthrate declined 41 percent during the same time period and the teen abortion rate dropped a dramatic 66 percent. As the Los Angeles Times notes, the declines were documented across racial and ethnic groups.
“Further research will be needed to understand the behavioral, social and economic factors that are affecting these trends,” researchers noted in the study, but they also have a pretty good guess what may be fueling the trend: increased access to sex education and affordable birth control.
Kathryn Kost, the lead author of the study, called the findings “great news.
http://www.salon.com/2014/05/06/tha...ortion_rate_on_the_decline/?source=newsletter
