Trends in teenage pregnancy
64. The UK currently has the highest rate of teenage
pregnancy in Europe (almost five times higher than the Netherlands),
and in the developed world is second only to the United States.
The table shows the number of births to women aged below 20 per
1,000 women aged 15 to 19. Data are for 1998, the most recent
year for which comparable information is available from all countries:
Country |
Teenage birth rate
(per 1000 women aged 15-19)
|
Korea | 2.9
|
Japan | 4.6
|
Switzerland | 5.5
|
The Netherlands | 6.2
|
Sweden | 6.5
|
Italy | 6.6
|
Spain | 7.9
|
Denmark | 9.1
|
Finland | 9.2
|
France | 9.3
|
Luxembourg | 9.7
|
Belgium | 9.9
|
Greece | 11.9
|
Norway | 12.4
|
Germany | 13.1
|
Austria | 14.0
|
Czech Republic | 16.4
|
Australia | 19.4
|
Ireland | 19.7
|
Poland | 19.7
|
Canada | 20.2
|
Portugal | 21.2
|
Iceland | 24.7
|
Hungary | 26.5
|
Slovak Republic | 26.9
|
New Zealand | 29.9
|
UK | 30.8 |
USA | 52.1
|
Source: A League Table of Teenage Births in Rich Nations, UNICEF,
July 2001
65. In the year 2000, there were almost 98,000 conceptions to
teenage girls, aged under 20, in England and Wales61% of
these led to a maternity and 39% to abortions. There were 8,000
conceptions among girls under the age of 16, less than a tenth
of the total number of conceptions to teenagers. Of these conceptions,
almost 400 were to girls under the age of 14, 160 of which led
to maternities.
66. Historical data show that despite the overall
trend towards later childbearing, after fluctuating in the 1970s
the proportion of teenage girls becoming pregnant rose significantly
in the 1980s. By 1990 there were 68 conceptions per 1,000 women
aged 15 to 19 in England and Wales; in 1999 the rate was slightly
lower at 63. The Government has chosen particularly to target
pregnancies in girls under 18. In 1999 the rate of conceptions
to teenagers under 18 was 45 conceptions per 1,000 women aged
15 to 17 years. This rate has remained within the range of 42
to 48 conceptions for the last ten years.
Year |
Conceptions
under 16 |
|
Conceptions
under 18
| |
| Number
| Rate[44]
| Number | Rate
|
1992 | 6,747
| 8.3 | 35,165
| 43.2 |
1993 | 6,802
| 8.0 | 33,495
| 42.1 |
1994 | 7,290
| 8.3 | 33,794
| 41.6 |
1995 | 7,484
| 8.5 | 35,371
| 41.6 |
1996 | 8,213
| 9.4 | 40,558
| 45.9 |
1997 | 7,707
| 8.9 | 40,463
| 45.8 |
1998 | 7,855
| 8.9 | 41,089
| 47.0 |
1999 | 7,408
| 8.2 | 39,247
| 45.3 |
2000 | 7,620
| 8.3 | 38,700
| 43.9 |
2001[45]
| 7,396 | 7.9
| 38,439 | 42.3
|
Source: Office for National Statistics
67. These statistics reveal that in England and Wales conceptions
for under 16s fell by 4.5% between 2000-01; the corresponding
figures for under 18s show conception rates fell by 3% in the
same period. Since 1998, the year before the launch of the Government's
teenage pregnancy strategy, conceptions for under 16s have fallen
by 10%, and for under 18s by 9%, demonstrating the steady success
of the teenage pregnancy strategy in its aim to halve teenage
pregnancy rates by 2009.[46]
Trends in unintended pregnancy
68. It is difficult to measure rates of unintended pregnancy objectively,
and there are no national statistics which do this, although the
BPAS estimates that 50% of pregnancies are unplanned.[47]
Abortion rates, which have been rising steadily since the early
1970s, give an indication of rates of unwanted pregnancy, although
of course they may be influenced by cultural and legal factors
as well.
69. Statistics show that abortion rates in England
and Wales have almost quadrupled in the thirty years since abortion
was legalised, increasing from 49,829 in 1969 to 173,701 in 1999.
There has been a relatively steady increase during that time,
but the rate appears to have stabilised in recent years at approximately
175,000 per annum, or 16.9/1000 women aged 15-44. Internationally,
the abortion rate in England and Wales is well over double that
in the Netherlands (6/1000 women aged 15 44), although not as
high as Sweden (18.8/1000) or the US (25.9/1000). In the UK rates
are highest amongst women in their twenties, making up 48.9% of
all abortions, as opposed to 21% for under twenties and 30.3%
for women of 30 and over. But unplanned pregnancy is not a problem
confined to young, single women without families. According to
the BPAS, approximately 20% of women having abortions are married,
46% already have one or more children, and 28% have had a previous
abortion.[48]
27 Ev 346 (Medical Research Council) Back
28
www.phls.co.uk. Back
29
Ev 309; Ev 351; Ev 336 Back
30
Q 250 Back
31
Angus Nicholl and Francoise F Hamers, "Are trends in HIV,
gonorrhoea and syphilis worsening in western Europe?", BMJ,
vol. 324 (2002), pp 1324-27 Back
32
Ev 309 (Dr James Bingham, Civilian Consultant Adviser in GU Medicine
to the Armed Forces) Back
33
Ev 59 Back
34
PHLS, HIV and AIDS in the UK in 2001. An Update: November 2002.
Estimates of the total number of undiagnosed HIV infections in
the population are based on figures derived from the Unlinked
Anonymous Prevalence Monitoring Programme. The programme monitors
undiagnosed HIV infection in homosexual and bisexual men and in
heterosexual men and women attending GUM clinics, in injecting
drug users attending specialist treatment and support agencies
or GUM clinics, and also in pregnant women or women having a termination
of pregnancy. Each year material left over from more than 600,000
diagnostic samples taken for other purposes is irreversibly unlinked
from patient identifying information and then tested for HIV infection. Back
35
Ibid. Back
36
Ibid. The delay in reporting newly diagnosed cases is taken into
account when assessing the extent of the epidemic. Within a given
year, only two-thirds of the reports for that year become available.
A year later 95% of the reports will be available. Back
37
Age Concern England, Opening Doors: working with older lesbians
and gay men - a resource pack, 2001 Back
38
PHLS, HIV and AIDS: epidemiological data, http://www.phls.co.uk/topics_az Back
39
Ev 13-14 Back
40
Q 631 Back
41
Department of Health, Health Service Circular HSC 1999/183 Back
42
CDR Weekly Bulletin, vol 12 no.17, April 2002 Back
43
Strategy, para 3.18-3.19 Back
44
Rate per 1,000 women aged 13-15 and 15-17 respectively using
revised population estimates (in light of the 2001 Census). Back
45
Provisional figures. Back
46
Department of Health Press Release, 2003/0086, 27 February 2003 Back
47
British Pregnancy Advisory Service, Abortion Facts and Statistics,
www.bpas.org.uk Back
48
Ibid. Back