Teen Pregnancy

According to The Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (GCAPP), The United States has the highest rates of teen pregnancy, births, and abortion in the fully industrialized world. Three in ten girls in the U.S. become pregnant at least once before age 20 — that’s over 750,000 teen pregnancies a year! Only 1/3 of those teens will receive a High School diploma by the age of 30.

Not only that, but Georgia has the 8th highest teen birth rate in the nation. Over 22,500 teen pregnancies occur each year in our state. That’s 62 new teen pregnancies each day –or over 2 teen pregnancies an hour!

According to the State Division of Public Health, the teen pregnancy rate in Georgia is over 67 pregnancies per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19. And Georgia ranks 2nd highest among the states in the rate of repeat births to teens.

Today, more teen mothers are unmarried than in past generations. In 2004, 80% of teens that gave birth were not married, compared to 75 percent in 1994 and 51% during the ‘80s. Single-parent families, especially young families, are at a greater risk of emotional and financial instability.