To wonder why teenage pregnancy rates have gone down

[Reallytired17]

here

Anecdotally, I remember four girls having babies in Year 11 in 1999.

Is it to do with better access to contraception, or are more pregnancies being terminated?

Regarding contraceptive effectiveness, I have been very clear with my DCs that actual effectiveness Vs theoretical effectiveness is far lower. Their sex education from school was very much focused on the theoretical so DH and I were careful to fill in the gaps.

Our message to the DCs has always been that an unplanned pregnancy isn't the end of the world but is the end of a world.

elton

Teen mums in all 4 counties I cover around the time period your talking about would have had a year or so stint in a young mothers unit then they would have entered the temp accomadation system where whilst it was claimed they would only be in b&b for 16 weeks before they got other temp accomadation in lots of those places it would have been more like 26/30 weeks.
Shelter at the time did a very good write up about it that pretty much explained the hell experanced in loads of areas

Teens are boring now!

My teen ds is more interested in sport than girls or drinking.

Teen mums in all 4 counties I cover around the time period your talking about would have had a year or so stint in a young mothers unit then they would have entered the temp accomadation system where whilst it was claimed they would only be in b&b for 16 weeks before they got other temp accomadation in lots of those places it would have been more like 26/30 weeks.

This is not true. There were 20,000 teenage births in 1998 and nowhere near that many places in mother and baby units and they were prioritised for under 16s and the ill. Anecdotally not a single person I knew was in a unit, and I did say they would have a stay in temp accommodation.

And waiting times were short. There were only 40,000 in temporary accommodation and much more available stock compared to 2005 when there were 101,000.

I think it's because boys are a lot more aware that pressurising or having sex with an underage girl could well land you with a police record and a life ruined when it's barely started !!!

I think it is better education about sex and contraception. More open parenting maybe? I had my first baby at 19. My parents never talked to me about sex or contraception. I figured it all out for myself. Sex education at school was fleeting.