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Ohio teen birth rate hits 21-year low

Fear of STDs, increased awareness among reasons cited for drop.

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By Cornelius Frolik, Staff Writer 8:38 PM Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Ohio’s teen birth rate declined for the third straight year in 2010, preliminary data show, hitting at least a 21-year low and giving local health officials confidence that teens are having less sex and more often are using contraceptives.

The birth rate among teens ages 15 to 19 fell last year across the area, and the national teen birth rate dropped to an all-time low, according to state and federal data obtained by the JournalNews.

Health experts said the declines suggest that young people are responding to a variety of influences, including fear of sexually transmitted diseases, better exposure to the realities of parenthood through reality television and social media and economic anxieties about becoming a parent when money is tight and jobs are scarce.

They said the trend is encouraging because many teenage girls are unprepared for motherhood and the disruption it can cause in their lives.

Ohio’s teen birth rate fell to 34 births per 1,000 teenagers ages 15 to 19 in 2010, according to the Ohio Department of Health. That compares to 38.8 births in 2009 and 41 births in 2008.

Last year’s birth rate was the lowest since 1990, and could be one of the lowest ever.

Meanwhile, teen birth rates among girls 15 to 19 in Butler County fell to 30.9 per 1,000 in 2010 from 37.4 in 2009; and 18.6 from 22.6 in Warren County, according to the state health department.

Nationally, the teen birth rate in 2010 saw a one-year decrease of 9 percent, the steepest decline recorded, according to preliminary data by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The birth rate for girls under 20 was 34.3 per 1,000 last year.

Although America still has a high teen birth rate compared to other countries in the developed world, the rate across Ohio and the country has been on the decline since the early 1990s.

Between 1991 and 2009, the teen birth rate in Ohio fell 48 percent to 38.8 births per 1,000 females 15 to 19 years old from 60.5, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

“I think we are staring square in the face of one of the nation’s real great success stories of the past few decades,” said Bill Albert, chief program officer of the campaign. “A combination of less sex and more contraception is driving the teen birth rate down.”

Albert said one reason for the decline is the popularity of television shows such as MTV’s “Teen Mom.” He said the shows take an unflinching look at being a teen parent and the hardships involved.

“It’s 21st Century education, all up in your face on television,” he said. “This is not Ms. Smith’s health class.”

Albert said that while young people are more likely to take risks, the fear of contracting STDs is a major concern that leads many to practice safe sex or delay it.

He also said raising a child is expensive, and teens are likely acting more responsibly because of the economic malaise engulfing the country.

“I am not suggesting that before teens hop in the sack they are checking their portfolios,” he said. “But I think (the poor economy) can have a sobering effect and it can make teens think, ‘Things are bad and I don’t know when they will get better, and now is certainly not the time to risk getting pregnant or starting a family.’ ”

There are hardships involved in becoming a parent too early. Research shows that teen mothers are less likely to graduate from high school and attend college, and they typically earn less. About half of teen mothers receive a high school diploma by age 22, compared to 90 percent of women who did not give birth in adolescence, according to the CDC.

Although about four in five teen pregnancies are the unintended result of intercourse without birth control, some teen girls become mothers on purpose.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-0749 or cfrolik@DaytonDailyNews.com.

Teen birth rate in Ohio

*Birth rate per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19 years old

Source: Ohio Department of Health

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