- Teenage pregnancy rate falls, February 24, 2010, BBC News: “The number of teenage pregnancies in England and Wales has fallen by 4%, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). A total of 41,325 women under 18 fell pregnant in 2008, down 3.9% from 42,988 in 2007, the figures show. Of these young women 49% had an abortion, compared with 50% in 2007. The government had pledged in 1999 to halve teenage pregnancy rates among under-18s in England by this year but is widely expected to miss that target. The ONS data shows for every 1,000 girls aged between 15 and 17 in England and Wales, there were just over 40 pregnancies…”
- Teenage pregnancies fall, but not far enough, By Anna Bawden, February 24, 2010, The Guardian: “The government today announced an overhaul of its teenage pregnancy strategy after new figures showed conception rates among under 18s were not falling fast enough. According to data from the Office for National Statistics, 41,325 girls under 18 in England and Wales fell pregnant in 2008, a decline of 3.9% from 2007, while the number of pregnancies among the under-16s fell 7.6% to 7,577. But the decline is far short of the government’s pledge to halve teenage pregnancies by 2010. Ministers committed to halve pregnancies among 15- to 17-year-olds in England from the 1998 rate of 46.6 conceptions per 1,000 girls…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty