Links

• TeenNow California e-newsletter
• Cal-Safe
• Cal-Learn
• National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy
• Funding Opportunities
• Legislation
• Quick Takes
• Regions
• Sex Ed Resources
• HIV Resources

 

Letter from the California Wellness Foundation

TeenNow California Facts

National Data | Statewide Data | CA Counties | National Birth Rates | CA Birth Rates

National Data

• Teenage birth rates have declined in the 90's, reversing the trend of the late 80's.
• The birth rate for teenagers in 1996 was 54.7 live births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years, down 4 percent from 1995.
• Most teenage mothers are unmarried. In 1996, 75 percent of teens giving birth were unmarried.
• Rates for black teenagers are at record lows. The rate of births for black teenagers, 15-17 declined 23 percent between 1991 and 1996. The rate for older black teenagers, age 18-19, fell 16 percent.
• Birth rates for both black and Hispanic teenagers remain higher than for other groups. Hispanic teenagers now have the highest teenage birth rates.
• Teenage mothers are much more likely than older women to receive first trimester prenatal care or no care at all.
• Teenage mothers are more likely to smoke and less likely to gain adequate weight during pregnancy.
• Babies born to teenage mothers are at greater risk of low birthweight and serious disabilities than babies born to older women.
• Birth rates vary substantially from state to state: from 28.6 in Vermont to 105.5 in the District of Columbia (1995 data).
• Birth rates have declined in all states and the District of Columbia. Overall, the birth rate fell 8 percent between 1991 and 1995.
• The 1995 “National Survey of Family Growth” sited declines in sexual activity and increases in condom use as key factors in the decline in teenage birth rates.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics

Back to top

United States Birth Rates for Teenagers 15-19 Years of Age

State	1995	1991
District of Columbia	100.5	114.4
Mississippi	80.5	85.6
Texas	75.8	78.9
Arizona	75.3	80.7
New Mexico	74.4	79.8
Arkansas	73.5	79.8
Nevada	73.4	75.3
Georgia	71.0	76.3
Alabama	70.3	73.9
Louisiana	69.9	76.1
California	68.2	74.7
Tennessee	68.0	75.2
South Carolina	65.2	72.9
North Carolina	64.0	70.5
Oklahoma	64.0	72.1
Kentucky	62.6	68.9
Florida	61.6	68.8
Illinois	60.0	64.8
Indiana	57.5	60.5
Delaware	57.1	61.1
Missouri	55.5	64.5
Ohio	53.4	60.5
West Virginia	52.6	57.8
Kansas	52.3	55.4
Colorado	51.3	58.2
Oregon	50.5	54.9
Alaska	50.3	65.4
Michigan	49.2	59.0
Idaho	49.0	53.9
Virginia	48.5	53.5
Hawaii	48.1	58.7
Maryland	47.6	54.3
Washington	47.5	53.7
Wyoming	47.3	54.2
New York	43.9	46.0
Rhode Island	42.9	45.4
Utah	42.3	48.2
Montana	41.9	46.7
Pennsylvania	41.7	46.9
South Dakota	40.5	47.5
Connecticut	39.4	40.4
Iowa	38.6	42.6
New Jersey	38.0	41.6
Wisconsin	37.8	43.7
Nebraska	37.6	42.4
Massachusetts	34.3	37.8
Maine	33.7	43.5
North Dakota	33.5	35.6
Minnesota	32.4	37.3
New Hampshire	30.6	33.3
Vermont	28.6	39.2

 

Back to top

Statewide Data

• California’s rate of births to teenagers decreased significantly between 1992 and 1996.
• California’s rate decrease was greater than that of the rest of the United States.
• California’s 1996 birth rate of 58.6 for teenagers age 15-19 is the lowest since 1987.
• Although declining, the birth rates for Hispanic and African-American teens is higher than that of white and Asian adolescents.
• Twenty two percent of teens giving birth in California in 1996 had given birth previously.
• In 1996, 73.7 percent of teen births were paid for by Medi-Cal.
• Sixty-five percent of the fathers of babies born to teenage mothers in 1996 were age 20 or older.
• In 1996 39,071 babies were born to mothers age 18 to 19, 24,047 to mothers age 15-17, and 1,485 to mothers younger than 15 years of age.
• Hispanics represented the large majority (63%) of births among all teenage mothers, followed by Whites (21%) and African-Americans (11%).
• Teenage mothers are less likely than mothers in general to relinquish a baby for adoption.

Sources: Alan Guttmacher Institute and California Department of Health Services

Back to top

California Counties

• While California had a 9.0% reduction in the rate of births to teens between 1995 and 1996, there were variations in the percentage of decrease among counties.
• All but six of the 52 counties for which a 15-19 birth rate could be calculated had a reduction.
• The most substantial reductions were in Los Angeles, Sacramento, Kern and San Joaquin counties.
• The single largest concentration of teenage births in California is in Los Angeles county, consistent with the fact that over 30% of the state’s teenage women reside in that county.
• Four counties with high adolescent birth rates are located in California's central valley, and include Tulare, Fresno, Merced and Kern counties. In addition, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties are considered high birth rate counties due to their size and the fact that their birth rates are higher than the state average.
• Four counties with relatively low teenage birth rates are located in the region surrounding the San Francisco bay, and include San Francisco, Contra Costa, Sonoma and San Mateo counties.
• Among high birth rate counties in the California central valley, approximately 25% or more of teenage women live at or below the federal poverty level. In contrast, only 10-20% of teenage women in the low birth rate counties live in poverty.
• Although white teens living in the central valley have lower birth rates than Hispanics or Blacks, their rates are very high – 3 to 4 times higher than birth rates of whit teens living in the San Francisco bay area.

Sources: Alan Guttmacher Institute and California Department of Health Services

Back to top

California Teenage Birth Rates by Mother's County of Residence

County	1996		1995		1994
Kings	87.2		94.9		100.2
Tulare	87.1		90.8		100.3
Fresno	79.9		89.0		94.7
Madera	79.1		88.5		91.5
Merced	77.8		94.9		97.2
Kern	77.1		89.6		95.3
Yuba	76.9		93.0		90.5
Imperial	69.7		69.1		78.2
Monterey	69.7		76.3		82.3
San Benito	69.6		66.5		61.8
Los Angeles	68.3		75.2		77.6
San Bernardino	66.9		73.6		79.6
San Joaquin	63.6		74.0		78.2
Stanislaus	62.0		66.1		73.4
Riverside	60.2		66.9		73.3
Modoc	60.0		*		55.3
Lake	58.7		58.2		70.6
San Diego	56.3		59.9		65.8
Orange	55.7		57.4		61.6
Inyo	54.9		48.4		60.1
Sacramento	53.8		63.0		68.3
Glenn	53.6		59.7		61.4
Tehama	53.4		63.7		73.7
Colusa	53.2		70.1		75.0
Mendocino	51.8		65.4		66.5
Del Norte	51.5		63.2		67.8
Butte	51.5		53.3		47.2
Santa Barbara	51.1		51.6		60.2
Shasta	50.5		49.6		53.9
Sutter	49.0		65.0		66.6
Solano	47.8		50.0		54.5
Lassen	47.5		64.5		59.4
Santa Clara	46.6		49.5		54.4
Ventura	46.5		51.5		51.6
Alameda	44.8		50.5		49.8
Santa Cruz	44.5		52.2		53.5
Napa	41.9		54.5		40.9
Siskiyou	40.7		54.8		47.8
Humboldt	40.4		47.5		46.3
San Francisco	38.6		41.7		43.4
Amador	37.3		40.0		38.5
San Mateo	36.6		38.7		40.3
Contra Costa	36.4		37.6		39.3
Sonoma	36.1		40.6		43.9
Tuolumne	33.5		43.8		31.6
Yolo	33.4		40.3		48.4
Calaveras	31.9		37.8		33.4
Plumas	29.6		40.3		34.9
Placer	29.3		36.1		35.9
San Louis Obispo	29.1		33.9		35.4
El Dorado	27.3		33.4		34.9
Nevada	25.9		28.0		30.5
Marin	20.9		16.8		22.0
Alpine	*		*		*
Mariposa	*		38.7		43.8
Mono	*		*		*
Sierra	*		*		*
Trinity	*		*		49.9

* Too few births to reliably calculate

Source: "Atlas of Births to California Teenagers, 1996", CA Department of Health Services

Back to top