Pregnancies among Teens on the Rise
By Jane Kirby,

Source: The Independent

Attempts to halve teenage pregnancy rates by next year look on course to fail after figures yesterday showed a rise for the first time in five years. The number of pregnancies in girls under 16 increased from 7,826 in 2006 to 8,196 in 2007. Nearly three-quarters of these pregnancies were in 15-year-old girls.
The overall pregnancy rate among under-18s in England and Wales increased from 40.9 per 1,000 women to 41.9 the data from the Office for National Statistics showed.
The Government had pledged to halve pregnancy rates among girls under 18 by next year but is widely expected to miss that target. A 2004 aim to cut the rates by 15 per cent from the base year of 1988 was missed. Among all ages, there are now more pregnancies outside marriage than in marriage, with 56 per cent of pregnancies in 2007 outside marriage compared with 49 per cent in 1996.
The Government responded to the figures by announcing funding worth £20.5m, of which £19m is new cash. The Public Health minister, Dawn Primarolo, said the cash was focused on encouraging young people to delay early sex and to practise safe sex when they do become sexually active. A total of £10m will be given to local health services to ensure contraception is available "in the right places at the right time" and £1m will be used in further education colleges to develop and expand on-site contraception and sexual health services.
The Government said the long-term trend on teen pregnancy was still downward and overall there had been a 10.7 per cent reduction in under-18 conceptions and a 23.3 per cent decline in teenage births since the start of the Government's strategy in 1998. But Norman Wells, director of the Family Education Trust, said: "The real problem is the growing numbers of young people engaging in casual recreational sex.
"This is not only leading to rising rates of conceptions and sexually transmitted infections, but it is also causing emotional damage that may make it more difficult to form a truly intimate and satisfying marriage later on. The Government's teenage pregnancy strategy has been a disaster for young people."
Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, said: "We can all agree that the high proportion of teenagers experiencing an unintended pregnancy is a significant health problem. But, that half of the teenagers in this position felt able to end their pregnancy in abortion is actually a positive sign. This means that more young women now know how to get the care they need and that if they have other plans for their teenage years aside from motherhood, they felt more able to make that choice."
* Truancy in England's schools rose slightly last year, with more than 63,000 pupils away from class on any given day. More than 233,000 children were classed as "persistent absentees" – missing at least one day of school every week.
Increasing numbers of primary school children skipped school, with more than 18,600 missing a school session each day through truancy, illness and other reasons. The total authorised absence rate fell to its lowest level, with children in all schools missing 5.28 per cent of sessions in 2007-08, down from 5.59 per cent in 2006-07.
But the unauthorised absence rate rose to the highest level on record, with 1.01 per cent of half-days missed last year – up from 1 per cent in 2006-07, the Department for Children, Schools and Families figures showed.
Number of pregnancies in girls aged under 16 in 2007, 370 more than in 2006.