People > Teenage birth rate: Countries Compared

In response to <i>Funny</i>: Teen pregnancy is an issue in <b>all</b> countries. Globally 10% of all births are to mothers under the age of twenty, 90% of these are in developing nations.

<p>Girls in Africa and South Asia are often married young and are under pressure to produce children. In Bangladesh almost 16% of fifteen-year old girls are pregnant or already have children. 75% of girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo and over half of all girls in Afghanistan and Bangladesh are married before the age of 18. In Nepal, 7% of girls are married before they are 10, and 40% by age 15. In developed nations, young mothers are usually unmarried.</p>

<p>The consequences of teen pregnancy are serious. Regardless of marital status, young mothers are frequently isolated, have little or no educational opportunities and are often trapped in long term <a href=http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_pop_bel_pov_lin>poverty</a>.
In addition to this, pregnancy-related deaths are the leading cause of mortality for girls aged 15 to 19 worldwide. Although poor health care is a factor, physical immaturity increases the risks of both maternal and infant mortality. Girls under twenty have twice the <a href=http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_mat_mor>maternal mortality</a> risk of older women, girls under fifteen have five times the risk. <a href=http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_inf_mor_rat>Infant mortality</a> is also higher among young mothers. Each year, 1 million children born to teen mothers will die before their first birthday.</p>

Education of such a huge impact on the life of all involved is most important in life decisions.
Make parents of the children share some of the responsibility.

To unclear: Actually, if one were to explore this site a little, they would see that the US is still number 2 when it comes to abortion rates (with Russia being number 1). So no, neither Japan nor Korea's low birth rates are due to abortion. The amount of teenage pregnancy is just simply ridiculous in the US, no matter which way you look at it.

That said, Japan IS number 10 in abortion rates, though Korea isn't anywhere to be seen on that particular list.

I'm pretty sure these are birth rates which changes things in prespective as in Ireland abortion is illeagal making birth rates higher and I've heard a statistic before saying Swedish girls lost their virginity younger than any other european country but the teenage birth rate would be lower due to abortions, quite sad really.

Teen is from 13 to 19. For 15 to 19, the data shows
43 births in US. Therefore, the 22.2 for the 15 to 17 is
not contradictory to the 52.1 from 13 to 19.

It looks to me like UNICEF might have made a mistake here. US govt stats show 51 per 1000 (most recent = 53) as percent births to UNMARRIED WOMEN AGES 15–44. The most recent figure for births to females ages 15–17 is 22.2 per 1,000 (2007). This doesn't reflect all teenage births; however it looks like something is wrong here. Using the US statistic puts us at number 7 rather than number 1, still pretty distressing.

Unfortunately, Jamaica should deinitely be on this list..Not only are babies are having babies at an alarming rate, but too many children (and adults alike) are technically not even known citizens of Jamaica, since they were not registered at birth (I obtained over 100 birth certificates in my year of service in Jamaica, and that was one small town). Aside from this, there is little or NO sex education in the schools, esp the poor rural areas, and its not uncommon for women to not understand how they got pregnant, even after giving birth to several children.

Jasmine, Knowledge is power! http://ezinearticles.com/?Teenage-Pregnancy-In-Jamaica---The-Reasons-Behind-This-Problem&id=930799

According to UNICEF 2006,

Teen pregnancy, double exclusion: Approximately 20% of births are given by adolescents. In other words a child gives birth to a child in one out of 5 births. Had all teenage pregnancies been brought to terms the rate would be even higher. This is attributable to a number of factors including high rate of forced sex, transactional sex, low rate of contraceptive use, early sexual initiation, and poor access to information and skills on safe and responsible sex....About one-third (32.8 percent) of women experiencing pregnancy between the ages of 15 and 24 years first conceived while still in school and only 34 percent of adolescent mothers return to school after giving birth (up from 16 percent in 1993) (Friedman 1999).

No official existence for 10% of children under one: A 2004 study found that about 10% of births are not registered within the first year of life. The right to immediate registration continues to be violated despite the fact that since 2000 in excess of 96% of total births have occurred in hospitals (98.2% in 2004). Children who are not registered are less likely to be provided appropriate care and protection as their existence is not documented – they are invisible.






"Rates of teenage pregnancy in Jamaica are among the highest in the Caribbean, with the birth rate for 15-19 year olds at 108 births per 1,000 women. Forty-five percent of all Jamaican women who are 15 to 24 years old have been pregnant by 19 years of age, and 41% have given birth. Females between the ages of 10 and 19 account for roughly 25% of all births in Jamaica and about 22% of births in 15-19 year-olds are second births." http://www.pregnancydigest.info/society-and-teenage-pregnancy-in-jamaica/