Teen Births At All Time U.S. Low

Preliminary date from 2014 show that the teen birth rate in the United States is the lowest it has ever been in U.S. history.

The preliminary birth rate for teenagers in 2014 was 24.2 births per 1,000 women aged 15–19—yet another historic low for the nation. The rate was down 9% from 2013 (26.5) and has declined more than 7% annually since 2007. Since the most recent peak in 1991 (61.8), the rate has declined a total of 61%. In 2014, the preliminary number of births to women aged 15–19 was 249,067, down 9% from 2013 and 44% from 2007 (444,899).

In 2014, the preliminary birth rates for teenagers aged 15–17 and 18–19 fell 11% and 7%, respectively, to 10.9 and 43.8 births per 1,000 women, another record low for both groups, from 12.3 and 47.1 in 2013.

Since 2007, the rate for teenagers aged 15–17 has declined more than 9% annually, and the rate for those aged 18–19 has declined nearly 7% annually. The number of births for teenagers aged 15–17 declined 11% from 2013 to 2014, and births to those aged 18–19 declined 8%.

The birth rate for teenagers aged 10–14 was 0.3 births per 1,000 in 2014, unchanged from 2013, the historic low for the nation. The number of births to mothers in this age group declined 11% in 2014, to 2,771 births.

Near record post-Roe v. Wade abortion rates for teenagers are largely a product of the same factor that has led to lower birth rates for teenagers, which is a reduced number of pregnancies, in significant part due to increased use of birth control.

Birth rates, in general, have been declining since 2007, mostly due to the financial crisis, and just recovered for the first year since then in 2014 with overall U.S. births up 1%.  The "Baby Recession" was correlated rather strongly with local unemployment rates.

C-sections, low risk C-sections, and pre-term deliveries are down for every ethnic group.  Increased births to mothers 35 years of age and older, particularly among better educated women is making up for reduced numbers of teen births.

On the whole, it is just about the best news we could have in the vital statistics department.  This will likely translate into reduced poverty, and in particular reduced child poverty, in the U.S. for decades.

The declines in teen birthrates are present in every racial and ethnic group measured, although there are very significant differences in teen birth rates by race and Hispanic origin (for which the most recent available data is in 2013).

U.S. teen birthrates are not particularly low by international standards, however.