U.S. Teenage Birth Rate Resumes Decline

Teenage childbearing has been the subject of long-standing concern among the public and policy makers. Teenagers who give birth are much more likely to deliver a low birthweight or preterm infant than older women (1,2), and their babies are at elevated risk of dying in infancy (3). The annual public costs associated with teen childbearing have been estimated at $9.1 billion (4). The U.S. teen birth rate fell by more than one-third from 1991 through 2005, but then increased by 5 percent over...