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Teenage Fertility Rate
The Teenage Fertility Rate is the birth rate for women 15 to 19 years
of age. Calculation of the teenage fertility rate is identical to the
general fertility rate except that it uses data for women 15 to 19
years of age.
In 2001, for example, there were 5,943 births to Arkansas women 15 to
19 years of age. There were an estimated 95,369 women of that age
resident in the state that year. Therefore, the Teenage Fertility Rate
= (5,943 / 95,369) X 1,000 = 62.3 live births per 1,000 women 15-19
years of age. The comparable rate for the nation as a whole was 45.3
in 2001. As with the general fertility rate, the calculation excludes
all induced abortions, fetal deaths, and spontaneous abortions.
The average teenage fertility rate for the period of 1997 through 2001
was 66.8. Teenage fertility rates are highest in eastern Arkansas in
the Mississippi Delta region. Phillips County had the highest average
fertility rate for women 15-19 years of age at 124.3 while Faulkner
County had the lowest at 35.8. The Southeast PHR had the highest
average teen fertility rate at 84.1. The lowest rate, 57.0, was in the
Central PHR.
Both the Arkansas and the U.S. teenage fertility rates rose
consistently in the late '80s but began to decline in the early '90s.
The national rate has declined from a high of 61.8 in 1991 to 45.3 in
2001. The Arkansas teenage fertility rate, however, has been up and
down since 1991. The 2001 rate showed a sharp change from 2000, going
from 66.4 to 62.3.
As with the general fertility rate, the teenage fertility rate differs
significantly by race. The teenage fertility rate for White teens for
the 1997-2001 period was 57.7, compared to 90.3 for Black teens.
Similarities between the state's general fertility rate and the teenage
fertility rate are generally to be expected, since births to Arkansas
women aged 15 through 19 typically constitute almost one-sixth of all
resident births. Moreover, the same social and economic factors that
affect the general fertility rate are reflected in the teen fertility
rate.
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