Teenage pregnancies
The highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe
It may be a controversial way of putting it but it does make the point. This was similar to the headline for an article in the Independent on 18th October 2007 and a similar article in the Telegraph on 7th January 2008. As if things were not bad enough an article on the BBC news on 13th February 2009 "Support promised for boy ‘father’" concerns a boy of 13. As shocking as this case is, it does make it clear that the UK has a problem.
The chart shows the rates of teenage(15-19) pregnancies for the year 2003 in 21 wealthy countries and only the USA has a higher rate. The UK with a rate of 28 per 1000 has the highest rate in Europe. It is a long long way from the Netherlands or Switzerland with 5 and the UK government knows that.
Teenage pregnancy rates
Source: UNICEF An Overview of child well-being
Does the solution work?
The graph of teenage pregnancy rates and percentage of abortions covers the period of 1998 to 2007 for England and Wales. Comming from different sources the graphs are for different age ranges which accounts for the different rates. The trend graph is for girls aged 15-17.
The government is not unaware of the problem, however Christians would question the wisdom of their solution. Their plan is a twofold approach based education about contraceptives and abortion. They proclaimed that their education was working with a reduction from a rate of 47.1 in 1998 to 40.9 in 2206, but fact is that we still remain a long way from the Netherlands. However an article in the Telegraph on 16th Dec 2008 reported "Teenage pregnancies rose last year, show official statistics". This data shows an increase from 40.9 2006 to 42.0 in 2007, and throws some doubt on viability of the governments plans. An article in the Telegraph "Compulsory sex education for children under five proposed" shows how desperate the government are to make their plans work.
In human terms this means about 42,000 girls between 15 and 17 getting pregnant every year. It also means about half of these or 21,000 girls having an abortion, and another 21,000 children growing up to find out their birth was not planned but an accident as the result of a risky life style. These outcomes are part of the picture that puts us as the worst country for child well-being in a survey by UNICEF.
Teenage pregnancy trend for England & Wales
Source: ECM Under-18 Conception Statistics 1998-2006
Other risk factors in teenagers well-being contribute to this problem. We have a higher proportion of young people having sex and a higher rate of binge drinking than most other countries. Solving the problem on teenage pregnancies would be simpler if these factors were reduced.
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