Teen Motherhood at Record Low in United States

Numbers Check

In 2003, there were approximately 772,600 mothers between the ages of 15 and 19 in the United States.

Eight Year Improvement

The number of teen mothers in America dropped by about 170,000 from 1995 to 2003.

Race Matters

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.

Location Matters

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.

Academic Consequences

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.