one in six girls in the US will become...

[Karbea]

a teen mum.

Thats an amazing stat isn't it!

It is amazing. So amazing that I'm not sure I believe it.

According to this, the teenage birth rate in the US is around 4%. That's 1 in 25.

Where did you hear the 1 in 6 statistic?

I'm watching the teen mom thing on MTV and it was one of the stats the Dr gave at the beginning of the show.

I could believe that in certain states but surely not in the US as a whole?

A teenage birthrate of 4% per year, does translate to somewhere near 1 in 6 if you calculate it by the number of years someone is a teenager. They are not saying "this year, 1 in 6 teenagers are pregnant," but "by the time they are 20, 1 in 6 will have been pregnant." The 16-19 rate, would be multiplied over 4 years (16, 17, 18 and 19) as the teenagers are at 4% risk per year, that translates to 16% overall. It isn't as bad a method as it sounds as the 16-19 is averaged, so unaffected by the increased likelihood at 19 opposed to 16. The main failings are multiple pregnancies and the fact that some are planned (this is just the insinuation but this is quite often a statistic quoted by pro-life, abstinence folk, so I felt the need to put that in).

makes mental note to move daughter back to UK before this happens, to avail her of the lovely UK benefits and council flat opportunities

I thought the answer was 'fat'!