Does Teen Pregnancy Depend on Condom Access?

In 2013, a total of 273,105 babies were born to women aged 15–19 years, for a live birth rate of 26.5  per 1,000 women in this age group. They are at a record low...but is this just a fluke? Are the number of teenage pregnancies lower because they are using condoms or is the study wrong? Let's take a look.

Photograph courtesy of: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/472103973411278742/

When used correctly, condoms are highly effective in preventing pregnancy, as well as HIV and some STI's. However, when people have more access to condoms, they have sex more often. Sometimes condom's aren't even used, and if they are, they are used inconsistently which can increase pregnancy and STI's. There is a delicate balance to these two: more condoms increase the amount of sex which can result in more pregnancies if people are not careful. 

But what if the teens were more educated on the topic of sex, especially in school? Would the number of pregnancies increase or decrease? A study compared public high schools in New York City to those in Chicago, and it found that there was a positive effect of condom availability programs. Sexually active students in NY, who had the condom availability program, were more likely to use a condom than students in Chicago where no program was in place. 

Photograph courtesy of:
 http://zap2it.com/2014/01/16-and-pregnant-found-to-have-lowered-teen-pregnancy-rates/

Teen pregnancy costs billions of dollars that U.S. taxpayers must give up. These costs help cover lost tax revenue, public assistance payments, public health care, foster care and criminal justice services. In 2010 alone, teen pregnancy cost taxpayers $9.4 billion, 

according to the National Campaign. 

Are condoms helping the situation, or are they making it worse? Despite the drop in teenage pregnancies, the United States teen birthrate is still higher than many other developed countries. Sexually transmitted infection rates are also climbing, not dropping. 25 % of people diagnosed with infections are teenagers. Even though condom availability is extremely high, using condoms are sometimes not a priority to those teens who are sexually active.

Regardless of any study done, the most effective form of birth control remains as abstinence. We can only prepare teenagers for what lies ahead if they wish to have sex. That is their choice.