NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--In a culture replete with dismal statistics, one positive report is that the number of teenage mothers is at a record low, continuing a 14-year downward trend.
Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the nonprofit Child Trends research center reported in June that the 2005 birth rate for teens ages 15 to 19 was 40.4 births for every 1,000 female teens, which is 35 percent lower than the peak of 61.8 percent in 1991.
Though birth rates varied across racial and ethnic groups, numbers were down across the board, Child Trends said. For white teen females, 26 out of every 1,000 gave birth in 2005. The same year, the birth rate for non-Hispanic black teen females was 60.9, and for Hispanics it was 81.5....