In 2014, Arizona had its lowest teen pregnancy rate in more than two decades.
Across the state the teen pregnancy rate has dropped by almost half from 2004 to 2014. The rate of 17.8 births per 1,000 teens is Arizona’s lowest since the 1980s.
For years the black teen girl population represented the highest rate of teen pregnancies in the state. But in 2014, Hispanic females accounted for more than 55 percent of all teen pregnancies in Arizona.
Toni Means with the Arizona Bureau of Woman and Children’s Health said while the number of teen pregnancies is down overall, there is a reason for the number discrepancies.
“Usually what the base line is used is for white non-Hispanics, which is also going down. So, minorities are closing the gap in terms of teen pregnancy. But a gap still remains,” Means said.
And she said that’s why she’s optimistic looking forward another 10 years.
“And I think the face that they continue to go down, while other populations also go down, it’s going to be harder to even be able to close that gap. It’s closing, the gap is closing. And it has been closing over the years.”
Means said she has seen the number of unintended pregnancy continue to decline as more conversations are taking place at school and in communities.
Teen Pregnancy Rates In The United States: 1990-2014
Birth rates per 1,000 females, ages 15-19.
