Teenage Pregnancy
The rate of pregnancy to women under 20 has not changed significantly since 1980. What has changed over this time is the number of women opting for abortion rather than parenthood. This reflects a changing social context, as increasing numbers of young women carry on to higher education and employment.
Birth rates
Over time, the number of births to older teenagers has dropped dramatically. Since the 1960s, the number of births to 18 and 19 year olds has halved.
Interestingly, the number of births to 15 and 16 year olds has changed very little over this period, apart from a blip in the mid 1970s.
Births to Teenagers 1965 to 2008
Since 2000, births to 15-19 year olds have been trending upwards again, with the birth rate increasing between 2001 and 2008 from 27.5 births per 1000 women in 2000 to 33 births per 1000 in 2008. The number of births to this age group in 2008 was 5185, compared with 3787 in 2000.
Among 20-24 year olds, the number of births has also increased, with 11093 babies born to this age group in 2007 compared with 9881 in 2000.
The known pregnancy rate (a combination of births and abortions) among young New Zealand women (15 to 19 years) has not changed significantly since 1980. The current pregnancy rate for this age group is around 51 per 1000, which is almost the same as it was in 1981.
What has changed over this period is the number of young women opting for abortion rather than parenthood.
Abortion rates
Abortions and abortion rates have increased dramatically among young women since 1980.
Among 15 to 19 year olds, the abortion rate more than doubled (from 11.4 per 1000 women in 2000 to 26 per 1000 in 2008) and the number of abortions increased from 3107 in 2000 to 4097 in 2008.
Among women in the 20-24 age group, the abortion rate trebled from 12.3 per 1000 in 2000 to 36.7 per 1000 in 2008. The number of abortions among this age group rose from 4548 in 2000 to a peak of 5670 in 2003 before ending the period at 5396.
Births and abortions ages 15-19, 2000 to 2008
Births and abortions ages 20-24, 2000 to 2008
As the graphs above show, 15-19 year olds are more likely to end a pregnancy in abortion than are 20 to 24 year olds. Almost half of all pregnancies among 15-19 year olds end in abortion. Among the 20 to 24 age group, around a third of pregnancies end in abortion.
