IntroductionDespite teenage pregnancy birth rates falling sharplyacross industrialised countries over the past 30 years,teen pregnancies are seen as an important issue thatcontinues to carry weight in political and social agendas. 3Briefly, the influences that have brought about suchradical changes in society’s perception in a relativelyshort time include the availability of safe, effective andinexpensive contraception, changes to legalisationsuch as easier access to abortions, a move away fromtraditional family formation and the sexual codes thatpromoted childbearing within the family and an economicorientation that favours extended education, delayedchildbearing, two-income households and careers forwomen. 4 Additionally, current economic pressures havedeepened the relative economic disadvantage of the lowskilled.Changes to attitudes concerning teenage pregnancy canbe seen against the background of this complex interplayof socio-economic and cultural factors. Parenthood wasonce socially acceptable for (married) teenagers but, asthe 2001 UNICEF Innocenti <strong>Research</strong> Centre report cardstates, “teenage births are now seen as a matter of publicand political concern, demanding government action inthose societies where teenage birth rates remain high.” 5<strong>Teenage</strong> parenting has become a social policy issue asthe link between poor outcomes for mothers and theirchildren and early parenting has emerged.<strong>Teenage</strong> pregnancy andparenting: what are we tackling?Outlined below is an overview of comparative teen fertilityrates internationally, nationally, between states and inthe northern region of Tasmania. This data snapshot isdesigned to provide a broad overview and context forwhere northern Tasmania is positioned in terms of teenfertility rates and the influence of socio-economic factors.The place of ethnic minorities is also addressed.The international data outlines the rates for industrialisedwestern countries as these countries have comparativeeconomic, social and cultural environments and a similarconcern about the circumstances for teen parents thatare most closely aligned to Australia. The nationalAustralian data records the teen fertility rates acrosseach state and provides detail about the ages of teenmothers. Data focusing on northern Tasmania outlines inmore detail comparative data by Local Government Areaand examines the link between teen fertility and socioeconomicstatus and implications for each of the areas,as well as providing actual numbers of teen mothers inthe north of Tasmania.International trends andcomparisonsComparing teen fertility rates between countries withsimilar economic status shows very different results.Analysis of these differences has led to current researchwhich examines the specific socio-economic, communitycircumstances of each country in relation to teenparenting. The following table shows comparative teenfertility rates between industrialised western countries.Figure 1: Live birth rate to women aged 15–19, 1999figures (Ref.3)20
Teen fertility rates have decreased slightly over the past10 years for all of the countries listed above and from2008 there has either been marginal changes or rateshave remained steady.Link with socio-economicdisadvantageWhy teenage fertility can vary between countries ofsimilar economic and cultural identity can be partlyexplained by how inclusive and equitable a society israther than in its overall economic wealth. Countriessuch as the Netherlands, Scandinavian countries andGermany, which place a priority on promoting universalaccess to education, have strong social welfare supportsand promote diversity, tend to have lower numbersof teenagers becoming mothers. Additionally there issome evidence that countries with lower relative incomepoverty rates also tend to have lower teen pregnancyrates. 6 The U.S.A, for example, has the highest level ofrelative income poverty among the industrialised nations(OECD), with more than 23.1% of children under age17 living in households with incomes less than 50% ofthe national median while the Netherlands has 6.1%and Germany 8.5%. The US also has the highest teenpregnancy rate among the OECD nations. Similarly, theUK and Canada with high comparative teen fertility ratesalso rank in the middle of the children living in relativepoverty index at 15.8% and 13.3% respectively.Influence of ethnicityEthnic minorities also impact on teenage pregnancy andbirth rates. <strong>Teenage</strong> births among immigrant or ethnicminorities are often higher than the average for theirnation as a whole. For example, the teenage birth rate inthe US is about twice as high for black teenagers as forwhite (85 per 1,000 as opposed to 45) and higher still (94per 1,000) for the Hispanic community. 7 This also appliesin New Zealand where the teenage birth rate varies from30 per 1,000 overall to 74 per 1,000 among the Maori.Within Australia Aboriginal teenage fertility rate is threetimes the national average. 8 Lastly, this is also highlightedin the Netherlands where the teenage pregnancy ratesfor ethnic minority groups can be more than three or fourtimes that of the Netherlands as a whole, with Turkishethnic minorities at 31 per 1,000 and Antilles at 40 per1,000 as opposed to the Netherlands as a whole at 5.2per 1,000 in 2009. 9 In Tasmania, the total fertility rate forAboriginal young people is consistently greater than theTasmanian average (see table ABS Births Data Tasmaniain the appendix).In general, ethnic minorities experience high levels ofdisadvantage that are reflected in reduced access tohealth services, tertiary education and lower incomelevels. However, other factors also have an influenceon teenage birth rates. Cultural and religious values thatpromote early marriage and childbearing, larger familiesand women not working outside the home are factors thatimpact on teenage birth rates in addition to the significanteconomic disadvantage experienced by minoritycommunities. 10 The influence of strong traditional valuesis also demonstrated in countries that have low teenagepregnancy rates, such as Japan and Korea, in which80% or more of those who are pregnant are married.It is speculated that this relates to societies that placea high regard on following traditional values. 11 <strong>Teenage</strong>pregnancy within marriage and with extended familysupport does not suggest the same adverse long-termconsequences as teenage pregnancy that is followed bysingle parenthood, isolation and poverty.National pictureIn 2001, Australia was ranked rank 11th of 28 OECDcountries with a teen fertility rate of 18.1 per 1,000 birthsand while that figure for both Australia and for othercountries has consistently declined slightly over thepast decade, the relative status and ranking of Australiaremains the same. 12The table below shows each Australian state’s teenagefertility rate over the past 20 years and shows that rateshave dropped significantly in that time, although theyhave been comparatively stable since 2006.Table 1: Comparison of State <strong>Teenage</strong> Fertility Rates inAustraliaYear TAS NT QLD WA NSW SA VIC ACT AUST1980 38.1 98.9 36.9 31.2 28.0 26.3 21.0 19.9 27.61992 29.0 90.5 26.5 25.0 22.8 18.7 14.7 14.0 22.01997 27.3 75.5 25.6 21.2 19.5 16.2 12.4 13.5 19.82000 25.7 69.6 22.7 20.9 16.7 15.2 10.8 10.9 17.72004 24.8 57.8 21.7 19.7 15.1 13.8 10.6 8.1 16.02006 26.5 63.5 19.7 19.6 13.2 16.7 9.7 9.1 15.32008 27.5 51.9 24.7 22.7 13.9 18.3 10.6 8.0 17.22010 21.5 48.1 24.0 19.1 12.9 15.3 8.5 8.9 15.5Australian Bureau of Statistics (2010). Births Australia 2011. Cat 3301.0.Canberra: ABS. (Australian Births per 1000 of estimated resident 15-19years population)21
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