DECEMBER 2013
Fast Facts
Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing Among Non-Hispanic Black Teens
Teen pregnancy and birth rates are at historic lows. There
has also been impressive progress in all 50 states and among
all racial/ethnic groups. Even so, the success has been uneven.
Despite a steady decrease in the teen pregnancy and birth
rates among non-Hispanic black teen girls over the last
decade, their rates remain much higher than rates for teens
overall.
350
Key Facts
250
The Details: Pregnancy Data
Overall
The pregnancy rate for all teens age 15-19 declined 44%
between 1990 (the peak year for teen pregnancy) and 2009 (the
most recent data available). The pregnancy rate among nonHispanic black teen girls decreased 51% over this same period
(from 232.7 to 114.5 pregnancies per 1,000 black teen girls). The
pregnancy rate among non-Hispanic black teen girls is slightly
higher than the rate among Latina teens (114.5 compared to
100.5), and is more than two and a half times higher than the
rate for non-Hispanic white teen girls (42.8).2
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100
15-17 Years
18-19 Years
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
50
1998
67.8
1997
Ongoing declines in both the pregnancy and birth rate
for non-Hispanic black teen girls suggest a more optimistic outlook. Both rates have fallen nearly continuously since 1990.
114.5
1996
•
181.1
150
1995
Nearly half (45%) of non-Hispanic black teen girls get
pregnant at least once before age 20—more than one
and a half times the national average.a
172.0
1994
•
200
1993
The teen pregnancy rate, which factors in both those
pregnancies that ended in a birth and those that did
not, was 114.5 per 1,000 non-Hispanic black teen girls
age 15-19 in 2009 (the most recent pregnancy data
available).2
232.7
1992
•
300
1991
The teen birth rate was 43.9 births per 1,000 nonHispanic black teen girls age 15-19 in 2012.1
312.6
1990
•
figure 1. Pregnancy Rates Among Non-Hispanic
Black Teen Girls by Age Group, 1990-2009
15-19 Years
By Age Group
Among non-Hispanic black teens, the majority of teen
pregnancies in 2009 occurred among girls age 18-19, and the
pregnancy rate among girls age 18-19 is more than double that
among girls age 15-17 (Figure 1).2
•
The teen pregnancy rate for non-Hispanic black teen girls
under age 15 was 3.4 per 1,000 in 2009. There was an 11%
decrease in this rate between 2008 and 2009, and there has
been an overall decrease of 72% since 1990. There were approximately 5,000 pregnancies to non-Hispanic black teen
girls under age 15 in 2009.
•
The teen pregnancy rate for non-Hispanic black teen girls
age 15-17 was 67.8 per 1,000 in 2009. There was a 7% de-
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crease in the rate between 2008 and 2009, and there has
been an overall decrease of 61% since 1990. There were
approximately 70,000 pregnancies to non-Hispanic black
teen girls age 15-17 in 2009.
•
The teen pregnancy rate for non-Hispanic black teen girls
age 18-19 was 181.1 per 1,000 in 2009. There was a 7% decrease in the rate between 2008 and 2009, and there has
been an overall decrease of 42% since 1990. There were
approximately 131,000 pregnancies to non-Hispanic black
teen girls age 18-19 in 2009.
figure 2. Birth Rates Among Non-Hispanic
Black Teen Girls by Age Group, 1991-2012
200
162.2
150
118.2
100
86.1
By State
•
Pregnancy rates for non-Hispanic black teen girls vary by
state. In 2008, the most recent year for which state detail
is available, these rates ranged from a low of 53 per 1,000
in South Dakota to a high of 161 per 1,000 in Texas.b,3
State specific pregnancy rates by race/ethnicity along
with changes in the teen pregnancy rate by race/ethnicity are available in the State Data section of The National
Campaign website at http://www.TheNationalCampaign.
org/data.
74.1
50
43.9
21.9
0
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
•
15-17 Years
•
The Details: Birth Data
Overall
The birth rate among all teens age 15-19 declined 52% between 1991 and 2012. The birth rate among non-Hispanic black
teen girls decreased 63% between 1991 and 2012—from 118.2
to 43.9 births per 1,000 non- Hispanic black teen girls respectively.1
By Age Group
In 2012, those age 18-19 accounted for the majority of births
among non-Hispanic black teen girls, similar to teens overall. In
fact, among non-Hispanic black teens, 71% of births to girls age
15-19 were to older teens (Figure 2).1
•
The birth rate for non-Hispanic black teen girls age 10-14 years
was .8 per 1,000 in 2012. There was a decrease of 11% between
2011 and 2012. There has been an overall decrease of 84%
since 1991. There were 1,263 births to non-Hispanic black teen
girls under age 15 in 2012.
•
The birth rate for non-Hispanic black teen girls age 15-17 was
21.9 per 1,000 in 2012. There was a decrease of 11% between
2011 and 2012, and an overall decrease of 75% since 1991.
There were 20,553 births to non-Hispanic black teen girls age
15-17 in 2012.
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18-19 Years
15-19 Years
The birth rate for non-Hispanic black teen girls age 18-19
years was 74.1 per 1,000 in 2012. There was a decrease of 6%
between 2011 and 2012, and an overall decrease of 54% since
1991. There were 50,719 births to non-Hispanic black teen girls
age 18-19 in 2012.
By Parity
•
Most births to non-Hispanic black teen girls are first births.
In 2012, 80% of births to non-Hispanic black teen girls age
15-19 were first births—16% were second births and the
remainder were births to girls who had two or more previous births.1
By State
•
Birth rates for non-Hispanic black teen girls were highest in the midwestern and southern United States, and
varied dramatically from a low of 22.8 per 1,000 in Utah
to a high of 66.4 per 1,000 in Arkansas (based on 2011
data—the most recent available for state-level rates by
race/ethnicity).4
•
State specific numbers of teen births by race/ethnicity
are available in the State Data section of The National
Campaign’s website at http://www.TheNationalCampaign.
org/data.
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About the Data
Teen pregnancy statistics reported by The National Campaign
are derived from published sources. There are currently
two similar but distinct time series for teen pregnancy, one
reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s
(CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and the
other reported by the Guttmacher Institute. In both series,
teen pregnancy is calculated using data from: the NCHS
(number of births); the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention
and Health Promotion (CCDPHP) within CDC (age and race/
ethnicity distribution of women obtaining abortions); and
the Guttmacher Institute (total number of abortions). Teen
pregnancy statistics also include estimates of fetal loss, for
which NCHS relies on data from the National Survey of Family
Growth, while Guttmacher estimates fetal loss to be 20% of
births plus 10% of abortions.2,3
Teen birth statistics reported by The National Campaign are
derived from published sources. The birth data are published
by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) within
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More
information about NCHS birth data is available at http://www.
cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm.
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Notes:
a.
For more information about how The National Campaign calculated this statistic using
NCHS pregnancy data, please see Fast Facts: How is the 3 in 10 Statistic Calculated?, available at http://www.TheNationalCampaign.org/data.
b. Unlike the NCHS teen pregnancy numbers for the nation overall, the state-level numbers
draw on an earlier report published by Guttmacher, in which they combine results for
both non- Hispanic black and Hispanic black teens in their abortion statistics, and these
are in turn a component of their pregnancy statistics. In general there is little difference
in statistics representing non-Hispanic black teen girls and all black teen girls. For
example, in 2008 the birth rate among black teen girls was 60.1 per 1,000 as compared
to the birth rate among non-Hispanic black teen girls, which was 60.4 per 1,000. For ease
of discussion, this fact sheet refers to non-Hispanic black teen girls throughout. For more
information about the data sources, refer to the About the Data section. Note that in
2008, pregnancy rates by state for black teens are available for 27 states.
References:
1.
Hamilton, B.E., Martin, J.A., & Ventura, S.J. (2013). Births: Preliminary Data for 2012.
National Vital Statistics Reports, 62(3). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/ nvsr62/nvsr62_03.pdf.
2.
Curtin, S.C., Abma, J.C., Ventura, S.J., & Henshaw S.K. (2013). Pregnancy Rates for U.S. Women Continue to Drop. National Center for Health Statistics, Data Brief, No. 123. Retrieved
December 5, 2013, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db136.htm.
3.
Kost, K., & Henshaw, S. (2013). U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions, 2008: State
Trends by Age, Race and Ethnicity. Retrieved February 25, 2013, from
http://www. guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrendsstate08.pdf.
4.
Martin, J.A., Hamilton, B.E., Ventura, S.J., Osterman, M.J.K, & Matthews, T.J. (2013). Births:
Final Data for 2011. National Vital Statistics Reports, 62(1). Hyattsville, MD: National
Center for Health Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr62/
nvsr62_01.pdf.
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