Teen Pregnancy and Sexual Activity Statistics
National Statistics
The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and births in the western industrialized world. Teen pregnancy costs the United States at least $9 billion annually.
31% of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20 -- about 750,000 a year. Eight in ten of these pregnancies are unintended and 81 percent are to unmarried teens.
The teen birth rate has declined slowly but steadily from 1991 to 2005 with a decline of 35 percent for those aged 15 to 19. The largest decline since 1991 by race was for black women. The birth rate for black teens aged 15 to 19 fell 48% between 1991 to 2006. Hispanic teen birth rates declined 22% between 1991 and 2005. The rates of both Hispanics and blacks, however, remain higher than for other groups. Hispanic teens now have the highest teenage birth rates.
The younger a teenaged girl is when she has sex for the first time, the more likely she is to have had unwanted or non-voluntary sex. Close to four in ten girls who had first intercourse at 13 or 14 report it was either non-voluntary or unwanted.
South Carolina Statistics
11th highest teen birth rate in the nation among 15-19 year old females
A teen gets pregnant every 55 minutes
There were over 10,000 new cases of HIV, gonorrhea, and chlamydia in people under the age of 20 in 2004
More than half of high schools students say they are having sex. By graduation, the number increases to 3 out of 4.
Half of young males agree that boys often get the message that having sex and getting a girl pregnant is not a big deal.
Sexual Activity Statistics
46.8% of all high school students report they have had sexual intercourse. The percentage of high school students who have had sex decreased 13.3% between 1991 and 2005 (54% to 46.8%).
Consequences of teen pregnancy
Teen mothers are less likely to complete high school (only one-third receive a high school diploma) and only 1.5% have a college degree by age 30. Teen mothers are more likely to end up on welfare (nearly 80 percent of unmarried teen mothers end up on welfare).
The children of teenage mothers have lower birth weights, are more likely to perform poorly in school, and are at greater risk of abuse and neglect.
The daughters of teen mothers are 22% more likely to become teen mothers themselves.