Is Teen Pregnancy Really a Problem in Connecticut?
In some places, yes it is.
Certain communities in Connecticut consistently differ from the state average when it comes to teen births. A much larger proportion of resident births are to teenaged mothers when these communities are compared to the state as a whole. In fact, the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UConn Health has tracked patterns of teen births in the state for almost 20 years. Most recent analyses focus on the last five-year period between 2010 and 2014. These data show that in some Connecticut communities, the proportion of resident births to teen mothers is double and sometimes nearly triple that of the statewide average.
Town | Pop. Est. | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | Average |
Hartford | 125,017 | 15.3 | 13 | 12.7 | 10.1 | 9.7 | 12.8 |
Windham | 25,213 | 14.7 | 14.8 | 10.6 | 8.5 | 7.1 | 12.2 |
New Britain | 72,939 | 14.3 | 13.3 | 11.2 | 9.1 | 8.6 | 12.0 |
Waterbury | 109,676 | 11.9 | 11.2 | 9.1 | 9.6 | 8.4 | 10.5 |
New Haven | 130,660 | 11 | 9.4 | 10.3 | 8.1 | 7.5 | 9.7 |
Bridgeport | 147,216 | 10.7 | 10.6 | 8.4 | 8.2 | 7.2 | 9.5 |
Meriden | 60,456 | 9.4 | 7.5 | 9.7 | 9 | 7.3 | 8.9 |
Norwich | 40,347 | 10.1 | 9.3 | 8.8 | 6.9 | 5.5 | 8.8 |
New London | 27,545 | 11.1 | 9.6 | 7.7 | 7.1 | 5.5 | 8.9 |
East Hartford | 51,199 | 7.6 | 7.3 | 8.2 | 6.8 | 6.1 | 7.5 |
Killingly | 17,233 | 6.6 | 6.4 | 10.9 | 4.9 | 2.6 | 7.2 |
Torrington | 35,611 | 7 | 6.8 | 7 | 6.3 | 4.7 | 6.8 |
West Haven | 55,046 | 6.1 | 5.7 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 5.7 | |
CONNECTICUT | 6.1 | 5.5 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 4 | 5.1 |
Data for this analysis has been provided by the Connecticut Department of Public Health. Data from the Annual Registration Report Tables were used, courtesy of DPH. All data analysis was performed by the Family Planning Program, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, at UConn Health.