A recent government survey of U.S. teens between the ages of 15 and 19 revealed some interesting statistics about their sexual activities, as well as some general perceptions that teens have about sex…
• The teens within this age bracket are not having sex more often (42 percent of girls had ever had sex and 43 percent of boys), a statistically insignificant change from 2002.
• The U.S. birthrate for women between the ages of 15 and 19 was 42.5 in 2007, according to the study, which was carried out by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics between 2006 and 2008. That number peaked in 1991 when 62 females per 1,000 gave birth between the ages of 15 and 19.
After that, the teen birth rate declined steadily through 2005, but rose from 2005 to 2007. It dropped again in 2008, by 2 percent.
• The percentage of male teens who “agree” or “strongly agree” that “It is OK for an unmarried female to have a child” increased from 50 percent in 2002 to 64 percent in 2008. The number of females who responded in the same manner stayed the same since 2002, at 71 percent.
• In 2002, 25 percent of males said the main reason they had never had sex was because they “don’t want to get a female pregnant.” That number dropped to 12 percent in the recent survey.
Bearing in mind that both males and females said “against religion or morals” was the main reason they had abstained from sex, one researcher points out that some of the survey results could be misleading or interpreted in different ways depending on the respondents’ views on pregnancy and abortion, etc.
• A total of 14 percent of females and 18 percent of males responded that they would be “a little pleased” or “very pleased” if they or their partner got pregnant. Also, 58 percent of females and 47 percent of males said they would be “very upset” if the woman became pregnant.
• During their first intercourse, 79 percent of females and 87 percent of males had used some form of contraception. Ninety five percent of the teens said they had used a condom at least once.
• Male teens reported two or more total sexual partners at a rate of 29 percent, and females at about 25 percent. These numbers are the same as in 2002.
The survey statistics were gathered from in-person interviews with 1,381 females and 1,386 males.
Some experts feel that some of views expressed by the teens in the survey are reflective of the reasons why the decline in teen childbearing has seemingly stalled out. Interestingly, the current U.S. birthrate among teens is still more than three times Canada’s rate and more than four times the rate in Germany and Italy.
The complete survey and background information is available on the CDC’s website.
We specialize in providing our over 1,000,000 customers with relevant product and condition information created by our professional editorial staff which includes our team of medical writers, medical practitioners, and health educators. eDrugStore.com Staff on Facebook