Key Facts

• Nearly one million teenage girls become pregnant in the United States each year. Despite the national decline in adolescent pregnancy since 1991, the United States still has the highest teen birth rate among Western, industrialized, developed countries.
  
  
• Every hour, two Americans under the age of 20 become infected with HIV.
  About 25% of all people now living with HIV became infected when they were teenagers.
  
  
• Adolescents want information and guidance that will help them to make healthy decisions: 46% of 12-15 year olds want to know more about sexual decision making and 41% of 8-11 year olds are seeking information about HIV/AIDS.
  
  
• A survey by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy found that nearly six in 10 teens believe it is unacceptable for high-schoolers to have sex, even if they take precautions against pregnancy and STDs.
  
  
• Adolescent childbearing takes a great toll on our current and future generations: 70% of teen parents never receive their high school diploma, and babies born to teen mothers are more likely to have low birth weight, develop cognitive and behavioral disorders, do poorly in school, and to suffer from abuse and neglect. Indeed, the risk of dying in the first year of life is greater by 30% or more among the infants of teens.