If the Sports Illustrated report is to be believed, it sounds like today's teens have more to teach today's sports stars than vice versa about unwanted pregnancy. The same week the magazine hit newsstands, new federal health statistics revealed a continuing decline in teen-age births nationwide since 1990. The sharpest declines were among black teens, who have fallen below the rate for Hispanics of all races, after years of having the highest recorded teen birth rate. Although black teens still have almost twice the rate of whites, their birth rate declined 21 percent from 1991 to 1996, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. As with all success stories, this one has an ample supply of partisans ready to take credit.
Social conservatives credit a rise in the popularity of abstinence.
Social liberals claim a rise in the rate of voluntary contraception. But the best estimates of teen sexual activity indicate some of both is happening. Tew also cited the improved economy as encouraging more teens to think about careers and less about sex. But, while the rate is coming down, it's much too soon to celebrate. Even with the latest count, this country still has the highest teen pregnancy rate, by far, of any industrialized nation - twice as high as the next largest industrialized country, Great Britain, Sawhill says.