“Teen pregnancies are down to a new record low, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.”

The Guardian, 26 March 2012

Last month the Guardian reported that teen pregnancies were down to a record low. By contrast this week the Sun referred to “soaring underage pregnancy rates” when talking about a report that recommended that girls as young 13 be given access to the pill.

So what is the truth regarding teenage pregnancy rates?

The Guardian has taken its figures from the Office of National Statistics which released figures on conception rates on 28 February 2012. The accompanying notes support the Guardian’s claims:

“The under 18 conception rate for 2010 is the lowest since 1969 at 35.5 conceptions per thousand women aged 15–17.”

“The estimated number of conceptions to women aged under 18 also fell to 34,633 in 2010 compared with 38,259 in 2009, a decline of 9.5 per cent.”

The figures relating to the number of conceptions for under 18s can also be found on table 6 of the ONS’ statistical release. A graph representing the total number of conceptions for under 18’s since 1998 can be seen below:

As you can see, not only have conceptions fallen from 2009 to 2010 but they have fallen since 1998: from 44,119 in 1998 to 34,633 in 2010.

The Sun by contrast the Sun refers to “soaring underage pregnancy rates.” The Sun does not mention figures but because the Sun refers to underage pregnancy rates we should focus on the number of conceptions for those under 16. These can be found in table 1 of the ONS release.

Between 2009 and 2010 the number of conceptions for under 16s fell from 7,158 to 6,674, a fall of seven per cent. The Conception rate for under 16s fell from 7.5 to 7.0 over the same period. Below are two graphs representing the fall in the number of conceptions and the fall in the conception rate for under 16s:

Like the data on under 18s these graphs show a downward trend in underage pregnancies since 1998.

Based on the figures from the ONS it is hard to support the Sun’s claim that the number of underage teenage pregnancies is soaring.

So the Guardian accurately quoted figures on the number of conceptions amongst the under 18s. Meanwhile there is no evidence to support the Sun’s claim that underage pregnancies are falling.

What the data presented here does show is that since 1998 the number of conceptions amongst the under 18s and under 16s has fallen.