S/O parents, sex talk thread

[Moxie]

Pretty universally, no one's parents talked to them and we're all talking more to our kids. But, teen pregnancy rates are not going down. What gives?

[Amira]

"The teen birth rate has declined almost continuously over the past 20 years."

 

http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/reproductive-health/teen-pregnancy/trends.html

Edited February 28, 2016 by Amira

[SparklyUnicorn]

Yeah I thought it was going down.

 

 

[Pam in CT]

re teen pregnancy, unintended pregnancy and relationship to poverty

"The teen birth rate has declined almost continuously over the past 20 years."

 

http://www.hhs.gov/ash/oah/adolescent-health-topics/reproductive-health/teen-pregnancy/trends.html

 

Yes.  Here is another data set from the Alan Guttmacher institute, that looks at unintended pregnancy rates (all ages) and slices & dices by various factors.  Overall unintended pregnancy rates have declined slightly since 1981, but that obscures a sharp divide between women well above poverty (for whom unintended pregnancy rates have sharply declined) and those in poverty (for whom the rate continues to rise).

[Melissa in Australia]

Rates are going down here, but abortion has been allowed for quite a few years. Something like 1 in 3 pregnancies in Australia end in abortion. People view it as a birth control choice.

[Guest]

Hmm. A quick google showed rates rising but it was talking about women in poverty.

[Pam in CT]

re pregnancy rates, birth rates, and populations

Hmm. A quick google showed rates rising but it was talking about women in poverty.

 

Yes.  Also, as Melissa noted, some studies focus on birth rates and others on pregnancy rates.  One would expect/hope that more open and effective parent-child communication (as you framed in your OP) and also better access to effective contraception would have the effect of reducing the unintended pregnancy rate; while the birth rate is additionally affected by abortion.  

[Melissa in Australia]

re pregnancy rates, birth rates, and populations

 

Yes.  Also, as Melissa noted, some studies focus on birth rates and others on pregnancy rates.  One would expect/hope that more open and effective parent-child communication (as you framed in your OP) and also better access to effective contraception would have the effect of reducing the unintended pregnancy rate; while the birth rate is additionally affected by abortion.  

Ah yes.

 sorry,  I was thinking of birth rates as you correctly pointed out, not pregnancy rates. thank you for the correction.

[Pam in CT]

re "unintended" definition

I always wonder about those "unintended pregnancy" rates. All of my pregnancies were unintended, but so what? I suppose I've been counted in that statistic. (Actually, I know I have been.) There's a big difference between uintended/wanted and unintended/unwanted.

 

Yeah, the Guttmacher study goes into those definitions a bit at the end.  They have three categories: wanted, unwanted, and "mistimed."  For the purposes of that particular summary, both "unwanted" and "mistimed" get aggregated as "unintended."   

 

 

 

What is unintended pregnancy?

An unintended pregnancy is one that was either mistimed or unwanted (51% of pregnancies). If a woman did not want to become pregnant at the time the pregnancy occurred, but did want to become pregnant at some point in the future, the pregnancy is considered mistimed (31% of pregnancies). If a woman did not want to become pregnant then or at anytime in the future, the pregnancy is considered unwanted (20% of pregnancies).

An intended pregnancy is one that was desired at the time it occurred or sooner. When calculating unintended pregnancy rates, women who were indifferent about becoming pregnant are counted with women who had intended pregnancies, so that the unintended pregnancy rate only includes pregnancies that are unambiguously unintended.

In this fact sheet, births resulting from unintended pregnancies are referred to as unplanned and those resulting from intended pregnancies are referred to as planned.

 

[Tsuga]

Pretty universally, no one's parents talked to them and we're all talking more to our kids. But, teen pregnancy rates are not going down. What gives?

 

There were many responses on that thread by people whose parents spoke to them and based on what I can see, most of us did delay having children until after marriage and felt happy that we were able to make informed choices. Of course those who did have children unexpected are no less happy to have them, at least, on that thread.

 

Teen pregnancy rates are going down where education is going up, but going up where education is going down. Hmmmmm.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Tsuga

[Guest]

too, theres a huge age spread on this board ykwim? A lot of my friends with kids close to my own children's ages are closer in age themselves to my parents than me. So the generational mores we grew up with are spread out.

 

And i dont really think this board is a representative sample of the wider world lol

Edited February 28, 2016 by OKBud

[umsami]

One thing that's different now then when I was younger and in college (late 80s) is that the IUD is now seen as a viable choice for women who've never given birth....and it's so much more effective.  Studies have shown remarkable drops in unintended pregnancies by women who used the IUD. 

 

Another thing to think of is how society views single Moms is different.  Some of you may be old enough (like me) to remember the brouhaha regarding Murphy Brown (TV character) choosing to have a baby out of wedlock.  Even though she was an extremely successful woman career-wise, it was a big deal.  These days, there's far less stigma.  Yet, unintended pregnancies are down.  I attribute that to better knowledge/availability.  Also, don't forget morning after pills.  When I was in college, student health would tell you how many "regular" BCPs to take to kind of create a morning-after pill, but that was assuming you actually went to them.  I know too many people who were date raped in college, and didn't do a thing about it other than pray that they didn't get pregnant.  These days, I would think most girls would know to at least get Plan B.