WEST VIRGINIA DATA
Teen pregnancy and childbearing are at historic lows and there has been impressive progress on both fronts in all 50 states.
The teen birth rate in West Virginia declined 57% between 1991 and 2019. Even so, in 2019 there were 1,287 births to teens. Most teen births in West Virginia (78%) are to older teens (age 18-19). It is also the case that 16% of all teen births were to teens who already had a child. The public savings in 2015 due to declines in the teen birth rate totaled $14 million. Teen birth rates have fallen for all racial and ethnic groups, and in some cases the gap in teen birth rates by race/ethnicity has narrowed, but disparities remain.
The teen pregnancy rate, which includes all pregnancies rather than just those that resulted in a birth, has also fallen steeply, by 50.1 % between 2007 and 2020 (the most recent data available). As of 2020 there were 1,139 pregnancies among teens age 15 to 19 in West Virginia.
When looking at women in West Virginia overall, not just teens, 52% of all pregnancies are described by women themselves as unplanned.
STATS
West Virginia’s teen birthrate is 22.5 BIRTHS PER 1,000 GIRLS. -11% change in teen birthrate in the previous year.
The teen birth rate in West Virginia declined 50.1% between 2007 (start of our program) and 2020. Even so, there were 1,139 births to WV mothers ages 10-19 in 2020.
Most teen births in West Virginia (78%) are to older teens (age 18-19). It is also the case that 16% of all teen births were to teens who already had a child.
Pregnancy and birth are significant contributors to high school dropout rates among girls. Only about 50% of teen mothers receive a high school diploma by 22 years of age, whereas approximately 90% of women who do not give birth during adolescence graduate from high school.
The children of teenage mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and to drop out of high school, have more health problems, be incarcerated at some time during adolescence, give birth as a teenager, and face unemployment as a young adult.
Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2021)shows:
29% of high school teens report currently being sexually active
82.6% of sexually active teens report they did not use a condom during recent sexual intercourse
95.2% of sexually active female teens report they did not use any hormonal methods of birth control (i.e., birth control pills, patch, IUD, shot, implant)
10.5% of sexually active teens report the use of drugs or alcohol before their last sexual intercourse
Sources:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2021). 1991-2021 High School Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System Data. Youth Online. Available at https://nccd.cdc.gov/youthonline/App/Default.aspx
The Power to Decide state-specific data available at: West Virginia Data | Power to Decide