New York State's teen birth rate continues to drop

national teen birth rate 2010 cdc

Teen birth rates across the nation in 2010. (Here's a state-by-state table.)

Updated Thursday morning

New York State has one of the lower teen birth rates in the nation, according to numbers out this week from the National Center for Health Statistics.

The Empire State's rate was 22.6 births per 1000 women ages 15-19 in 2010. Only eight states had lower rates (check out the map above). The national average was 34.3. The lowest state was New Hampshire (15.7), the highest Mississippi (55.0).

Teen birth rates have been dropping across the country since the early 1990s. Some perspective: New York State's rate was 45.5 in 1991 -- it's dropped almost every year since (source).

Nationally, he NCHS says "fewer babies were born to teenagers in 2010 than in any year since 1946." And the national rate is the lowest it's been in the seven decades that reliable numbers are available.

So, why's this happening? From the report:

The impact of strong pregnancy prevention messages directed to teenagers has been credited with the birth rate declines (9-11). Recently released data from the National Survey of Family Growth, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), have shown increased use of contraception at first initiation of sex and use of dual methods of contraception (that is, condoms and hormonal methods) among sexually active female and male teenagers. These trends may have contributed to the recent birth rate declines (12).

Curious about the Capital Region, we looked up the rates for the local core counties...

Teen birth rate - Capital Region counties

The latest data we could find on the state Department of Health's website are for 2007-2009 (teen pregnancy rate in parentheses).

Albany County: 20.2 (32.9)

Rensselaer County: 27.2 (37.3)

Saratoga County: 15.5 (28.0)

Schenectady County: 24.2 (54.8)

The NYS DOH also breaks out the numbers by ZIP code (linked above for each county name). Some of the disparities are striking. For example, in Albany County the rate for the 12203 ZIP code (western part of the city of Albany, parts of Guilderland) is 6.6. The rate for 12210 (parts of downtown Albany) is 93.9.

Update in response to Amanda's comment below:

The new report from NCHS doesn't include the teen pregnancy rate -- but the NYS DOH numbers above do (updated above). And in some cases, there's what appears to be a sizable gap between the rate of teen pregnancy and the rate of births to teens. (Of course, abortions don't account for the entire gap.)

There are state-by-state numbers from The Guttmacher Institute for 2005 (pdf). It reports that New York State's teen pregnancy rate that year was 77 per 1,0000 for women ages 15-19 -- and the birth rate was 27. The state's teen abortion rate was 41 -- the highest in the country.

National data and map from "Hamilton BE, Ventura SJ. Birth rates for U.S. teenagers reach historic lows for all age and ethnic groups. NCHS data brief, no 89. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2012." 2010 data are preliminary.

Comments

Why hang out with boys when you can play Warcraft?

So proud of 12180 for winning the county with a 54.3!

(Higher is better, right?)

How appalling that states who promote abstinence-only education have the highest teen birth rates.

Summer, appalling or to be expected?

This is just birth rates, though. It'd be interesting to see if the national spatial pattern holds for pregnancy rates or abortion rates.

@Amanda: That's a good point. The new report from NCHS doesn't include the pregnancy rate -- but the NYS DOH numbers above do (I'll update those). And in some cases, there's what appears to be a sizable gap between the rate of teen pregnancy and the rate of births to teens. (Of course, abortions don't account for the entire gap.)

I was able to find state-by-state numbers from The Guttmacher Institute, for 2005. It reports that New York State's teen pregnancy rate that year was 77 per 1,0000 for women ages 15-19 -- and the birth rate was 27. The state's abortion rate was 41 -- the highest in the country.


Say Something!

We'd really like you to take part in the conversation here at All Over Albany. But we do have a few rules here. Don't worry, they're easy. The first: be kind. The second: treat everyone else with the same respect you'd like to see in return. Cool? Great, post away. Comments are moderated so it might take a little while for your comment to show up. Thanks for being patient.

What's All Over Albany?

All Over Albany is for interested and interesting people in New York's Capital Region. In other words, it's for you. It's kind of like having a smart, savvy friend who can help you find out what's up. Oh, and our friends call us AOA.

Search

Recently on All Over Albany

Thank you!

When we started AOA a decade ago we had no idea what was going to happen. And it turned out better than we could have... (more)

Let's stay in touch

This all feels like the last day of camp or something. And we're going to miss you all so much. But we'd like to stay... (more)

A few things I think about this place

Working on AOA over the past decade has been a life-changing experience for me and it's shaped the way I think about so many things.... (more)

Albany tightened its rules for shoveling snowy sidewalks last winter -- so how'd that work out?

If winter ever gets its act together and drops more snow on us, there will be sidewalks to shovel. And shortly after that, Albany will... (more)

Tea with Jack McEneny

Last week we were fortunate enough to spend a few minutes with Jack McEneny -- former state Assemblyman, unofficial Albany historian, and genuinely nice guy.... (more)

Recent Comments

My three year old son absolutely loving riding the train around Huck Finn's (Hoffman's) Playland this summer.

Thank you!

...has 27 comments, most recently from Ashley

Let's stay in touch

...has 4 comments, most recently from mg

A look inside 2 Judson Street

...has 3 comments, most recently from Diane (Agans) Boyle

Everything changes: Alicia Lea

...has 2 comments, most recently from Chaz Boyark

A few things I think about this place

...has 13 comments, most recently from Katherine