scholarly journals Why is the Teen Birth Rate in the United States so High and Why Does it Matter?

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Schettini Kearney ◽  
Phillip Levine
2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 320-334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth Ovadia ◽  
Laura M. Moore

Teen birth rates vary widely across counties in the United States. in this study, we examine whether the religious composition of a county is correlated with the rate of teen childbearing using both a traditional moral communities approach and a “decomposed” version of that framework. Utilizing 2000 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Census Bureau, and the Religious Congregation and Membership Survey, we find that the total percentage of religious adherents in a county is not significantly correlated with the teen birth rate. However, when we decompose the Christian population into major denominational groupings, we find the percentage of evangelical Protestants in a county is positively associated with the teen birth rate while the percentage of Catholics is negatively associated with teen childbearing. Possible explanations for the association between religious context and teen birth rates are discussed, as well as their policy and research implications.


2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph M Strayhorn ◽  
Jillian C Strayhorn

1997 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 286-286
Author(s):  
David Lester

The monthly suicide race was associated with the estimated monthly conception rate in the United States of America in 1980, not with the monthly birth rate.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1063-1067
Author(s):  
Myron E. Wegman

A CONTINUED downward trend for births, slightly upward for marriages, and about the same rate as last year for deaths characterize the provisional vital statistics of the United States for 1965 (Table 1). Despite the falling birth rate almost 2,000,000 persons were added to the United States population through the excess of births over deaths. Births in 1965 were down about 7% from 1964, bringing the total number, estimated at 3,767,000, below 4,000,000 for the first time in 12 years. The number of births was the lowest since 1951, giving a crude birth rate of 19.4 births per 1,000 population and a fertility rate of 96.7.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet M. Bronstein ◽  
Martha S. Wingate ◽  
Anne E. Brisendine

The portion of newborns delivered before term is considerably higher in the United States than in other developed countries. We compare the array of risk exposures and protective factors common to women across national settings, using national, regional, and international databases, review articles, and research reports. We find that U.S. women have higher rates of obesity, heart disease, and poor health status than women in other countries. This is in part because more U.S. women are exposed to the stresses of racism and income disparity than women in other national settings, and stress loads are known to disrupt physiological functions. Pregnant women in the United States are not at higher risk for preterm birth because of older maternal age or engagement in high-risk behaviors. However, to a greater extent than in other national settings, they are younger and their pregnancies are unintended. Higher rates of multiple gestation pregnancies, possibly related to assisted reproduction, are also a factor in higher preterm birth rates. Reproductive policies that support intentional childbearing and social welfare policies that reduce the stress of income insecurity can be modeled from those in place in other national settings to address at least some of the elevated U.S. preterm birth rate.


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