Teen births falling, but some teens give birth again

Brawner

Teen birth rates in Arkansas and across the country are falling. Meanwhile, in Arkansas, some teens who give birth do it again within 18 months.

I’ll provide the numbers without a lot of comment.

Nationally, births to teenagers ages 15-19 have fallen steadily and sharply — from 61.8 per 1,000 females in 1991 to 13.2 in 2023, according to provisional data released in April by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2022, the rate was 13.5.

We don’t have the 2023 numbers by state, but in 2022 Arkansas’ rate was 24.6 births — more than 11 points higher than the national average that year. Only Mississippi had a higher percentage at 26.4.

While Arkansas has been at or near the bottom of state rankings for years, the percentages have been on a downward trend here just as they have been nationally. The rate has fallen from 58.6 births to teens ages 15-19 in 2005 to 39.5 in 2014 to 24.6 in 2022. In 2021, Arkansas had the nation’s highest rate at 26.5 births.

It’s worth noting that 2021 was the last full year abortion was legal in Arkansas. It was banned except when the pregnant woman faces a life-threatening emergency on June 24, 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. The teen birth rate still fell that year.

All of Arkansas’ neighbors were also in the bottom eight except for Missouri, which was 39th. Basically, Southeastern Conference states other than Florida are at the bottom. That includes Texas and Oklahoma.

The four lowest rates in 2022 occurred in New England states. New Hampshire had the lowest at 4.6 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19. That’s less than one-fifth of Arkansas’ rate. Massachusetts and Vermont were next lowest at 5.8, followed by Connecticut at 6.4.

It also should be noted that birth rates have been dropping in general. The CDC’s provisional report found that the nation’s general fertility rate decreased 3 percent from 2022 to 2023, reaching what its press release called “a historic low.” Birth rates declined for the various age groupings up to age 39, while they were unchanged for women in their 40s.

Researchers with the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement drilled down into Arkansas’ numbers further over the years 2019-21. Southeast Arkansas had the highest regional teen birth rate at 38.2 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19. Northeast Arkansas was second with 33.3 births per 1,000. Southwest Arkansas had 27 births, and central Arkansas had 24.1 births. Northwest Arkansas had 23.6 births, the lowest among the five regions.

Not surprisingly, birth rates were much higher for older teens. Over that three-year period, there were 5,984 births to Arkansas teens ages 1819, or 158.5 births per 1,000. The researchers did not report how many of those women were married. Those numbers dropped to 1,569 births to females ages 16-17, or 40.5 births per 1,000. There were 331 births to females ages 15 and under, or 3.4 births per 1,000.

Arkansas’ total population is about 3 million.

Some of the teens conceived a second pregnancy within 18 months of their first. ACHI noted that intervals shorter than 18 months have been linked to a higher risk of preterm labor and low birthweight babies.

In fact, roughly a quarter of the 18-19-year-olds gave birth again within that time period. Among 19-year-olds, it was 24.1 percent, while it was 26.6 percent among 18-year-olds.

The rates began dropping from there, to 22.2 percent among 17-year-olds and 16.8 percent among 16-year-olds. At the lowest end, it was 12.8 percent among 15-year-olds, 6 percent among 14-year-olds, and 4.8 percent among females age 13 and younger.

Keep in mind that there were 331 births total over three years for that 15-and-under age group, so roughly a couple of dozen females those ages gave birth a second time. Many of those were 15, which is still far too young. The fact that a girl age 13 or younger would give birth a second time is shocking, and one can only imagine from what circumstances that birth would arise. But it’s extremely rare.

I’ll sum this up by recounting what the research says without making some clever remark, as columnists feel like we’re supposed to do. Teen birth rates are falling across the country and in Arkansas. Some teens in Arkansas are giving birth a second time within 18 months.

••• Steve Brawner is a syndicated columnist published in 17 outlets in Arkansas. Email him at brawnersteve@mac.com.