November 21, 2006 -- Statistics Show Drop in Teen Births in 2005

Preliminary data on births in the United States in 2005 show the birth rate for teens aged 15 to 19 was 40.4 births per 1,000 teenagers, a 35 percent decrease from a peak of 61.8 births per 1,000 in 1991. This is the lowest level ever recorded, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The decline in teenage childbearing was documented across all race and ethnic populations but was most impressive among non-Hispanic black teens ages 15 to 17, where the birth rate is down 59 percent since 1991. Other data from the annual survey:

• In total, there were 421,123 births to females under age 20 in 2005;
• There was another increase in unmarried childbearing-- 36.8 percent of all births were to unmarried mothers in 2005;
• The total number of U.S. births increased 1 percent in 2005, to 4,140,419;
• The percentage of preterm births (infants delivered at fewer than 37 weeks of gestation) and the percentage of babies born at low birth weight increased in 2005; these figures have been increasing since the 1980s.

The statistical report, "Preliminary Birth Data for 2005," is available at www.cdc.gov/nchs.