Teen birth rates fall to an all-time low — for a surprising reason

(Image credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

published 28 April 2016

Teen pregnancy rates are now lower than ever before, a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention out Thursday reveals, and it's not for the reason popular culture might lead you to suspect. While analysts do attribute the stark drop in teen birth rates — with, notably, a nearly 50 percent drop among Hispanic and black teens in particular — to better access to more effective contraception, they also contend that teens today are simply having less sex. The Washington Post reports:

...teens — despite their portrayal in popular TV and movies as uninhibited and acting only on hormones — are having less sex.'There has been a change in social norms that has happened in the past 20 years, and the idea of not having sex or delaying sex is now something that can be okay,' said Bill Albert, chief program officer for the National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. [The Washington Post]