ATLANTA, March 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. teen birth rate increased for the second consecutive year, U.S. health officials said Wednesday.
A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said the U.S. teen birth rate increased 3 percent in 2006 -- following a 14-year decline, However, total U.S. births rose in 2007 to 4,317,119, the highest number of births ever registered in the United States.
Birth rates increased for women in their 20s, 30s and early 40s, but remained unchanged for younger teens and pre-teens aged 10-14, the report said.
Only Hispanic teens noted a decline in the birth rate, which fell 2 percent in 2007 to 81.7 births per 1,000.
For women ages 15-44, who were not married, having children increased to historic levels in 2007. An estimated 1.7 million babies were born to unmarried women in 2007, accounting for 39.7 percent of all U.S. births, an increase of 4 percent from 2006.
Unmarried childbearing has increased 26 percent since 2002, the CDC report said.
