Ever wonder how births among teen girls have changed over the past 15 years? Or if parents ever disagree about whether their pregnancy was planned or not? Or even wonder how an unplanned pregnancy might affect the relationship stability of the parents? Or their happiness in their relationship? Don't look any further for answers, simply check out the 5 new sections of our DCR (Data, Charts, Research) Report and find out!

Section E - The Changing Portrait of Teen Childbearing Over Time
This section provides a portrait of teen births among girls age 15-19 in the United States, from 1991 to 2006. More specifically, the section explores the distribution of teens giving birth by age, race/ethnicity, nativity, marital status, and education, as well as the proportion of teen births that are low birth weight and are premature.
Highlights: Non-Hispanic white teens account for the largest share of teen births. However, since 1991, the proportion of teen births that are to non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black teens has decreased while the proportion of teen births to Hispanic teens has increased.  

Some scary things to consider this Halloween:

• The teen birth rate is on the rise after 15 straight years of decline.
• Fully seven in ten pregnancies among single 20-somethings are unplanned.
• More than half of pregnancies reported by unmarried men in their 20s are unplanned.
• Rosie O'Donnell is launching a new radio show.
• The magic less sex/more contraception formula that drove down the teen pregnancy rate over the past decade plus now seems to have morphed into a more sex/less contraception formula.
• 3 in ten girls in the United States get pregnant by age 20.
• Mariah Carey continues to record and release music.

What are some things that are scaring you? Let us know.

President Obama released his FY 2010 budget today and called for at least $164 million in funding for a new teen pregnancy prevention initiative. This includes competitive grants for evidence-based programs, research and evaluation, and an authorization for $50 million in new mandatory teen pregnancy prevention grants to states, tribes, and territories. The budget eliminates funding for Community-Based Abstinence Education and the mandatory Title V Abstinence Education program. Based on an initial reading of the budget, the National Campaign released the following statement:

"Regarding teen pregnancy, President Obama's budget is just right--it emphasizes good science, encourages research and innovation, and increases the overall investment in teen pregnancy prevention" said Sarah Brown, CEO of The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

"During an economic downturn and at a time when the teen birth rate is on the rise after 14 straight years of decline, it is particularly important that public dollars be devoted to those interventions that have evidence of success. The President's budget does just that.

We also appreciate that 25% of what the President proposes in his budget is devoted to carefully testing innovative approaches to preventing teen pregnancy. If we are to make continued progress in preventing teen pregnancy and childbearing, it is clear that we will need fresh new approaches that, for example, help underserved populations and that employ new technology to reach young people. This will continue to expand the roster of effective approaches that states, tribes and communities can use to prevent too-early pregnancy and parenthood."

Please visit www.TheNationalCampaign.org for language from the President's budget, as well as related and relevant information and updates.

We are two weeks in, and already it has been a busy 2009 in the world of teen and unplanned pregnancy prevention. For us policy nerds, it has been an even busier one as the 111th Congress convenes, and the ball is officially rolling on a number of pressing issues and ideas that would make the world a better place.

So, here I have compiled my very own list of things that get me out of bed every morning. Here's hoping Congress and the new Administration take note!

1. Last week, the federal government released data that confirmed the 3% increase in the teen birth rate between 2005 and 2006 (as originally reported in December 2007) and announced that some 26 states saw a significant increase in the rate for the same period. As for the others, only 3 states and the District of Columbia had statistically significant decreases, and 22 state rates were essentially unchanged. I don't know about you, but after 14 straight years of declines, this scares the pants off me. Or maybe it scares my pants on as the case may be. Wake up call, anyone?
   
   
2. Policymakers and advocates alike genuinely seem ready to move past the decades-long culture wars and to find common ground on abortion. Among the ways to do it: getting to the root of the issue and helping women avoid unplanned pregnancy in the first place. The Prevention First Act, which has already been introduced in the U.S. Senate and will be introduced in the House later this week, proposes several ways to achieve that goal, including increased access to birth control and making information about sex, pregnancy, and childbearing available to young people.
   
   
3. Young people of color are still falling through the cracks. Latina teens and African American teen girls are more likely than not to become pregnant before turning twenty. Exhibit A: The Dallas Morning News recently announced the first babies born in 2009 in the area, a New Year's Day tradition, which included the first baby born at Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital to a fifteen-year-old Latina.
   
   
4. Our health care system could use a little work. Okay, some would argue that it needs a complete overhaul. Regardless of what steps are taken, they should improve access to the services that help women and couples successfully plan families and prevent pregnancy. That's just plain old basic health care.
   
   
5. Studies continue to show that preventing unplanned pregnancies actually saves money. This just in from the "Duh" files. And in this economy, what better to invest in than a public health intervention that both improves the lives and health of women and families and relieves some of the crunch that state and federal governments are feeling.
   
   

This list is exciting, daunting, jaw-dropping, (insert adjective of your choice here)...but more than anything, it's a reminder of all the work that we have to do this year and the ENORMOUS opportunities that we will have to make a difference on the issues that we care most about. Be sure to check out the more comprehensive list of The National Campaign's work in the policy realm.

Let's get to work, people.

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) today released final teen birth data for 2006.  As expected---preliminary national data were released a year ago---the overall teen birth rate increased 3% between 2005 and 2006 after 14 years of continuous decline.  Again, just to make the point, after more than a decade of steady declines nationally, declines in all 50 states, and declines among all racial/ethnic groups, the teen birth rate is on the rise.

Not too good.

The NCHS report does include new state-by-state teen birth rates. If I were choosing a word to describe the state findings that word would be b-l-e-a-k.  My boss describes the NCHS data was a "four-alarm fire."  Consider the following.  :

• National teen birth rate increased 3% between 2005 and 2006
• 26 states posted statistically significant increases in the teen birth rate between 2005 and 2006 and only three states and the District of Columbia saw significant decreases.
• Teen birth rates are up among all major racial/ethnic groups.
• Teen birth rates are up in states nationwide, from California to Florida, Alaska to Alabama, Montana to Texas.

For more information and analysis, including some thoughts on what communities can do, policymakers can do, etc, go here:

Click the image for a non-Leo obstructed version of the Parade article

Parade is read by almost every living, breathing human being in the United States.  Or close to it.  Still, many of you may have been so distracted by the cover treatment on dishy Leonardo DiCaprio that you failed to note a story on teen pregnancy inside the magazine.

Specifically, the brief story highlights the recent increase in the teen birth rate and wonders why rates of early pregnancy and childbearing in the United States are so out of kilter compared to other countries.  The article also discusses the effectiveness of abstinence programs.

Take Action (Make your own whooping siren sound here and then explain to your colleagues, co-workers, friends and family why you are making such a ruckus.)  Parade is asking readers the following question: "Should abstinence-only sex ed continue?"  Let them know what you think by voting here.   The results of the online poll will be published in an upcoming issue of Parade.

Between 1991 and 2005, the teen birth rate decreased 34% to a record low.  Now that's a stat worth celebrating.  Between 2005 and 2006, however, the teen birth rate increased 3%—the first increase in 15 years.  Say it ain't so. 

In an effort to help us all understand this troubling shift, we've published a new paper written by Kristin Anderson Moore, Ph.D. of Child Trends.  Teen Births: Examining the Recent Increase investigates the available data on teen sexual activity and contraceptive use and offers some thoughts on what may have contributed to the increase in the teen birth rate.

Download your copy of the report now.  Questions about the research?  Concerns about the uptick?  Ideas on how to resume the downward trend?  Talk to us.