Teen pregnancy rates, which have been generally falling for years, reached a 30-year low last year in North Carolina.
The latest year-over-year decline was true both in absolute numbers and in rate of pregnancy. Teens had more than 200 fewer babies in this state in 2008 than in 2007. And the pregnancy rate among women aged 15-19 was 58.6 out of every 1,000, down from 63 per 1000 the year before.
Unfortunately for Durham, the year-over-year changes went in the opposite direction. Durham recorded 600 teen pregnancies last year, compared with 577 the year before. In 2007, those pregnancies amounted to 54.7 per thousand, and that rate increased to 63.3 in 2008.
Concern over teen pregnancies and teen births is not a question of moral values. Regardless of whether you approve or disapprove of teen sex — and disapproval can range from mild to ballistic — few would argue that a teenaged mother has not created multiple barriers to a stable and financially sound life.
Teen moms are less likely to finish high school or go to college and are more likely to end up in low-paying or dead-end jobs, if they can find jobs at all. The emotional burden of caring for children while still a child is heavy. And children of teen mothers are more likely to become teen mothers themselves.
The Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina hailed the latest data. The data show, said the agency’s executive director, Kay Phillips, “that we are headed in the right direction, and that we must keep pressing forward so that more communities benefit” from proven prevention programs.
The agency noted that it was a positive step forward when the General Assembly opened the door to local school systems offering a broader based sex-education curriculum than “just say no.”
The campaign is correct in saying there still is much work to be done, but we’re encouraged by the continued statewide downward trend.
