Introduction

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This factsheet covers government policy and key statistics on teenage pregnancy in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (United Kingdom/UK). Please note that the data for each country may not be strictly comparable due to differences in methods of data collection and analysis.

• The UK has the highest teenage birth and abortion rates in Western Europe(1,2).
• Rates of teenage births are seven times those in the Netherlands, double those in France and more than twice those in Germany(2).
• While the teenage pregnancy rate in the USA is decreasing, the rate is nearly twice as high as in the UK – 72.2 per 1,000 15–19 year olds in 2004(3).
• Groups who are more vulnerable to becoming teenage parents include young people who are: in or leaving care, homeless, underachieving at school, children of teenage parents, members of some ethnic groups, involved in crime, living in areas with higher social deprivation(4)
• Young women living in socially disadvantaged areas are less likely to opt for an abortion if they get pregnant(5)

England

• Following a report from the Social Exclusion Unit(6) in 1998, the Teenage Pregnancy Unit was set up and a ten-year strategy and action plan was implemented.
• The target is to halve the under-18 conception rate by 2010 (from 46.6 per 1,000 in 1998) and to bring about a decline in the rate of conceptions to under-16s.
• The aim is also to increase the participation of teenage parents in education, employment or training to reduce their longterm risk of social exclusion.
• An Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy was established in 2002 to provide advice to the Government and monitor overall success of the strategy(7).
• Further guidance was published in 2006 to support more effective local implementation of the strategy(8,9).
• Between 1998 and 2007 the teenage conception rate fell by 10.7 per cent in under-18s and by 6.4 per cent in under-16s.

 

Wales

• As part of a general sexual health strategy, the Government aims to reduce teenage pregnancy rates(11) and has developed an action plan to achieve this(12).
• Between 2000 and 2005 the teenage conception rate fell by 9.8 per cent in under-18s and by 14.7 per cent in under-16s.

Scotland

• The National Sexual Health Strategy for Scotland(14) includes the target to reduce the under-16 conception rate by 20 percent by 2010 (from 8.5 per 1,000 13–15 year olds in 1995, to 6.8 per 1,000).

 

Northern Ireland

• The Government aims to reduce the rate of births to teenage mothers under 17 years of age by 25 per cent by 2013 (from a baseline of 3.1 births per 1,000 females aged under 17 years in 2003–2005)(16).
• Conception data is not available for Northern Ireland, due to the lack of complete data on the number of women having abortions. Abortion is only legal in exceptional circumstances and many women will travel to England to have an abortion.
• In 2007, 235 women aged under 20 travelled to England to have an abortion(17). compared with 301 in 2000, although these numbers are likely to be an underestimate.
• In 2007, there were 1,405 teenage births (under 20), a rate of 22.5 per 1,000 15–19-year-olds. The rate has fallen by 12 per cent since 2000(18).

References

1 UNICEF, A League Table of Teenage Births in Rich Nations ( Florence: Innocenti Research Centre, 2001).

2 United Nations Statistics Division, ‘Statistics and Indicators on Men and Women, Table 2b- Indicators on Childbearing’, accessed 3 March 2009.

3 Ventura S J et al, ‘Estimated Pregnancy Rates by Outcome for the United States, 1990-2004’, National Vital Statistics Report vol 56, no15, (2008).

4 Swann C et al, Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood: A review of reviews. Evidence briefing (London: Health Development Agency, 2003).

5 Lee E et al, A Matter of Choice? Explaining national variation in teenage abortion and motherhood (York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2004).

6 Teenage Pregnancy Unit, ‘About the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy’, accessed 13 June 2009. 

7 Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy, Annual reports.

8 Department for Education and Skills, Teenage Pregnancy Next Steps: guidance for local authorities and primary care trusts on effective delivery of local strategies (London: DfES, 2006).

9 Department for Education and Skills, Teenage Pregnancy: accelerating the strategy (London: DfES, 2006).

10 Teenage Pregnancy Unit, Teenage Conceptions for England 1998–2007.

11 National Assembly for Wales, A Strategic Framework for Promoting Sexual Health in Wales (Cardiff: NAW, 2000).

12 National Assembly for Wales, A Strategic Framework for Promoting Sexual Health in Wales: Post-consultation action plan (Cardiff: NAW, 2000).

13 Welsh Assembly Government, Statistical Directorate, Teenage Conceptions in Wales, 2006 (Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government, 2008).

14 Scottish Executive, Respect and Responsibility: Strategy and action plan for improving sexual health (Edinburgh: Scottish Executive, 2005).

15 ISD Scotland, Teenage Pregnancy, accessed 13 July 2009

16 Northern Ireland, Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, Sexual Health Promotion: Strategy and Action Plan 2008-2013 (Belfast: DHSSPSNI, 2008), accessed 4 March 2009.

17 Department of Health, Abortion statistics, England and Wales: 2007 (London: DH, 2008). Statistical Bulletin 2008/01.

18 General Registrar Office (Northern Ireland), Registrar General Annual Report 2007 (Belfast: Stationery Office, 2008).

Other relevant FPA factsheets

Teenagers: sexual health and behaviour

Teenage pregnancy (Northern Ireland) PDF

Further information

For further information on the material covered in this factsheet, and other subjects related to sexual health, contact the FPA Library and Information Service.

Tel: 020 7608 5282. Email: libraryandinformation@fpa.org.uk

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