Numbers Check
In 2003, there were approximately 772,600 mothers between the ages of 15 and 19 in the United States.
This report — part of the KIDS COUNT Data Snapshot series — shares the latest statistics on teen pregnancy in the United States. It tells how teen birth rates differ by location and race and how the number of teen mothers in America has decreased over time.
In 2003, there were approximately 772,600 mothers between the ages of 15 and 19 in the United States.
The number of teen mothers in America dropped by about 170,000 from 1995 to 2003.
American Indian, black and Latino teens are two to four times more likely to have a child before entering adulthood compared to their white and Asian Pacific Islander peers.
Girls growing up in Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas are more than three times as likely to become teen mothers compared to their counterparts in New Hampshire and Vermont.
Teen parenthood greatly increases the risk of educational failure. Nearly one in three girls cited pregnancy as the reason they dropped out of school in 2004.
The good news: the number of teen mothers in the United States is on the decline. The not-so-great news: American teenagers remain more likely to give birth compared to their counterparts in other affluent countries. The nation’s teen birth rate is also particularly high for minorities and adolescents living in low-income communities.
