Positive Youth Development Awareness: Dept. Health and Human Services · Youth.gov · Preventing Pregnancy
Join the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) this May to celebrate National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month (NTPPM). NTPPM celebrates the historic decline in the teen birth rate in the United States and highlights the importance of helping adolescents reach their full potential.
Despite historic declines, the teen birth rate in the United States is still higher than that of many other countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom. Almost 172,000 babies were born to young women between the ages of 15 and 19 in the United States in 2019. In 2018, the birth rate per 1,000 females age 15 to 19 in the United States was:
Hispanic = 26.7
Black = 26.3
White = 12.1
There are especially high birth rates among vulnerable youth, including youth in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, youth who are homeless, parenting teens, and LGBTQ+ youth.
Connecting youth to services and opportunities that will help them maximize their strengths can help prevent teen pregnancy. Therefore, teen pregnancy prevention efforts should provide youth with opportunities for healthy and successful development. OPA’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program grantees implement effective programs that focus on developing positive outcomes for adolescents, including supporting positive youth development, preventing sexually transmitted infections, building healthy relationships, and more.