Abstract

Teenage pregnancy is associated with adverse social and physical outcomes for both mother and child. We drew on
various sources-birth and abortion statistics from the Office for National Statistics, data from the National Survey
of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles, and routinely collected data from family planning clinics-to identify trends in
England and Wales and their possible determinants.
The rate of teenage sexual activity has increased steadily and consistently over the past four decades, whilst the
rate of teenage fertility has shown greater variation. When the teenage fertility rate is calculated against the
denominator of sexually active women, rather than the total sample of teenage women, the underlying trend in
teenage fertility over the past four decades has been downwards, though not consistently so. Fluctuations in the
teenage fertility rate seem to track intervention-related factors such as access to, and use of, contraceptive
services and the general climate surrounding the sexual health of young people.