Teen Pregnancy Rates Drop by 50 Percent in U.S.

A recent report shows that rates of teenage pregnancy and even abortion have plummeted in every state and even among racial and ethnic groups, according to Live Science. 

According to the study, conducted by the Guttmacher Institute, there were 614,000 pregnancies among 15 to 19-year-old women in the United States in 2010, or around 57 pregnancies per 1,000 women in that age group.

That's a 51 percent decline from the peak rate in 1990 and a 15 percent decline from the 2008 rate in which there were an estimated 68 pregnancies per 1,000 women in that age group.

"This report demonstrates that, in fact, fewer teens are becoming pregnant than at any time since tracking of this data began - reflecting our finding that both birthrates and abortion rates among teens have steadily declined," said the study authors, via the Los Angeles Times. 

A drop was also seen across certain racial and ethnic groups, particularly among Hispanic and black teens. For instance, in 1990, the white-teen pregnancy rate was 86.6 per 1,000 vs. 223.8 per 1,000 black teens, according to Time. By 2010, the rates had fallen to 37.8 per 1,000 for whites and 99.5 per 1,000 blacks. For Hispanic teens, the number has fallen from 169.7 per 1,000 in 1992 to 83.5 per 1,000 in 2010, according to TIME. 

"The decline in the teen pregnancy rate is great news," said study leader Kathryn Kost of the Guttmacher Institute, via a press release. "Other reports had already demonstrated sustained declines in births among teens in the past few years; but now we know that this is due to the fact that fewer teens are becoming pregnant in the first place."