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?

Missoni do you work with teenagers?

At a guess:

(a) cultural and economic change continually reduce the planned teenage pregnancy rate;
(b) the unplanned teenage pregnancy rate hasn't increased to compensate.

I must admit the anal sex comment doesn’t ring true to me at all. I’m not saying more people don’t do it, but I doubt very much the conversation goes
‘Well, we don’t have condoms and you’re not on the pill/implant.’
‘Okay, well, let’s just do anal then!’

Boys are playing Xbox all day? Probably.

My youngest kids were at school in about 2007 when we got a letter home saying school would arrange to take any girls who required MAP to local clinic. I suggested it might be more useful to hand out condoms on Fridays rather than MAP on a Monday but they were horrified.

Maybe support with MAP has made a difference?

As I understand it the drop in teenage pregnancy has been a worldwide phenomena and so is any link with local policy is purely coincidental. Apparently the UK still has one of the worst rates in Western Europe.

I would have thought rates going down was due to the access of porn so easily now

I’m constantly ontruoged by how much more innocent my 15 year old and his friends are than I was and I was at a very high performing independent school where everyone expected us to be angels. Ha ha.

He and his friends go to each other’s houses go play FIFA, they eat Nando’s and get dropped off and picked up and their friendship group is 95% male. As far as I’m aware there is no interest in alcohol and there are few parties and those which happen always have parents there and the actually take bottles off the kids as they arrive if there are any.

He has a girlfriend and I know they have kissed but he was horrified when I mentioned anything else and how it was illegal and from what I can gather they watch movies, play monopoly, have to keep the doors open and are never left on their own. When they go out they stay on the local high street, have dinner and generally get spotted by loads of people we and they know.

We would have laughed at 15 to spend time like that. I’m definitely not complaining though.

Re the anal comment, I'm a safeguarding lead in a secondary. We've had multiple cases of under 16s (as young as 12) having anal sex, with the girls citing they've done it so they don't get pregnant.

I doubt this is a significant factor in the reduction of pregnancies but it definitely is a 'thing'. From what we've seen, usually when older males have pressured younger girls.

I think there is a huge difference between vaguely "knowing where babies come from" and the kind of openness about contraception which means you can actually ask "have you got a condom?" Ime young people talk more than we did. Yes, online, but also in real life. It can tear you down, but it can also give you the confidence to stand up for yourself and to up your expectations of any sexual partner.

And as a pp said, more openness between parents and children means you can ask questions and find more specific information relevant to yourself, not just vague general idea. Again, a lot less scary to make an appointment or go into the pharmacy if you know exactly what you should ask for and how.

Having said that, both dd and ds did have friends who had babies before they left school. It's about demographic. We live in one of the poorer parts of town.

Do you have a source for that, Pointless?

The problem with STIs is that they are the hidden consequence of unprotected sex. The implant is great but I wonder if it has the effect of making young people feel safer than they really are.

Yeah I don't mean this as a benefit bashing post but when I was at school there were a lot of girls planning to have a baby in their teens so they can get their own house. It's not that easy anymore.

Obviously there are a lot of other factors like the ones stated above but I do think changes in the benefit system would have made a difference in some communities

And as a pp said, more openness between parents and children means you can ask questions and find more specific information relevant to yourself, not just vague general idea

^this^

I've always been open with my son's regarding masterbation, sex, periods, sti's etc.

As I previously mentioned, I was a teen mum, so am in my mid thirties now and ds1 is 18. A lot of his friends have parents in their late 50's and early 60's, and they are horrified that he openly talks about these things with his mum.

I think the age of parents has a lot to do with how much kids know. Imo if parents are open, kids are more likely to ask questions rather then just read info on a screen. For example anal sex, I've told him he's never ever to pressurise a girl into it, and that it bloody hurts! But it has to be consensual (he doesn't see the appeal in it at all). He's going off to uni, and him and his gf are hoping they stay together, but they are being realistic that it may not work. But we've spoken about sti's, different symptoms, where to get get help if something happens. (Although his normal response to anything is 'I'll just ring and ask you')

I'd be interested to know, for those of you that had children later in life, what is your communication with your dc regarding sex like? As I said I can only say what the experiences of my ds's friends are.

Never thought I'd be taking about anal, vaginal sex, sti's and contraception first thing on a Sunday morning....

There was a whole documentary series on this, on Radio 4, about a year ago. Something like 'The Mystery of the Missing Teenage Pregnancies'. You might be able to find it online.

I heard some but not all. The reason it was a series, of about 5 programmes, was that there isn't one simple answer. They looked into lots of 'obvious' possibilities and found some credible, some didn't stand up to scrutiny.

It really demonstrated the difference between research and speculation. And that with research, you can still arrive at the answer 'well it could be a bit of this and less of that but actually, we're not sure'.

I can only speak for my teenage DDs. They started young regrettably, younger than I did. They have had sex and they do go out a lot, so the idea that they are all in their rooms on snapchat doesn't really ring true. Thankfully they have kept themselves safe and protected. Have even found used condoms lying around . DD1 has the pill for skin issues but we both know it's good to have the contraceptive protection also. DD2 is underage and has snuck off to the doctor to get the pill without telling me. I would rather that than an unwanted pregnancy.

I've seen several articles on how today's teens don't drink to excess the way their predecessors did. That must make a difference.

I think if the huge difference in the honesty between my daughter and me and between my mother and me when I was a teen is anything to go by, teens are more likely to tell their mothers in time to have a termination. I know I've said to my daughter even if there's anything you want to tell me but are too embarrassed to tell me but you need help from an adult speak to Lfriendofmine . She could either help her or break it to me. My mother's ONLY advice was 'don't be a bad girl'. No guidance how to navigate the various pressures beyond that.

Sorry I just re-read my post, I'm not saying that if you are an older parent you don't talk about sex, that sounded like such a sweeping generalisation! I don't mean to offend anyone!

I really don't think it's about anal sex FGS! Even people who do anal sex don't tend to do it exclusively. I don't think it's about getting a house either - I expect that kind of planning actually still happens among very deprived communities. Because it wasn't that easy in the 90s either, it was always a myth. (Granted, SH lists are much longer now, but I heard girls planning this less than 5, 10 years ago, when they were already longer than a long thing.)

It probably goes with the general shift in teenage behaviour - less rebellion and risky behaviour, drinking, drugs, sex, fighting, and more time spent studying and volunteering - teenagers have changed across the board.

Plus reliable contraceptives where the user doesn't have to consistently remember to use them, which is something teenagers tend to find difficult due to their immature brain development.

But honestly why have teenagers changed? I think it's parenting. Parenting has changed beyond recognition in a generation. It's no longer about demanding obedience and respect with threats, speak when you're spoken to, hierarchical family model with adults on top and children (and teens considered children) below, smacking has been frowned upon for 20+ years, it's encouraged to talk to your children, listen to them, reason with them and generally treat them as people with the respect that comes with that - and I think this has made a huge difference.

Despite porn handwringing (and I agree I do have concerns) - boys are much more likely to be taught about consent and respecting girls' bodies. Girls are much more likely to be told that they have the absolute right to say no, rather than being told not to "lead a boy on" etc. Of course this message does not get through to all but things are changing, and we should be proud of that.

Social media is attributed anecdotally- I don't know if any quantative data does exist

Apparently the effect is a mixture of being glued to phones and laptops alone at home (you can't get pregnant on Snapchat!) and social media Increasing aspiration levels

Every Facebook cloud...

I'm sure I read that teenage pregnancies has reduced due to better constant contraception but STDs have increased due to not using condoms.

Found that programme - sounds interesting, thanks :) I will have a listen later when I'm doing my ironing (Former teen parent here - so rock n roll my life is!)

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08493nt

Ready to get flamed...

During the labour years, benefits were much more generous. You could claim income support until your child was 12. Now it's age 5 I believe and you are switched over to JSA. Tax credits had just come in and were incredibly generous.

For a lot of girls, it was a quick route to a flat and some money. If you're a teenage girl from a poor background with little career prospects, it's not a bad life to aspire to. If you know you're never going to get a brilliant job and your own parents aren't wealthy enough to give you a step up the ladder, then why wouldn't you have a baby? Then it becomes contagion. Girls see their friends doing it and it becomes more normalised rather than looked down upon.

The Tories have made it a much harder, whether you think that's right or wrong.

Buxbaum

It is mentioned here: www.guttmacher.org/news-release/2015/teen-pregnancy-rates-declined-many-countries-between-mid-1990s-and-2011

I first heard it on the BBC radio 4 program that has been linked above. IIRC they explicitly state that whatever is causing the decline is worldwide.