Teenage Birthrates Decline For the 1st Time Since '86, New Federal Study

By Jessica Portner

Birthrates for girls ages 15 to 17 have fallen for the first time in nearly a decade, "halting" an increase that began in the mid-1980's, a federal study says.

The National Center for Health Statistics reported last week that the birthrate for 15- to 17-year-old girls dipped by 2 percent in 1992, after a 27 percent increase between 1986 and 1991. The center studied birthrates for women 15 to 44.

Birthrates for 18- to 19-year-old women remained stable in 1992, and a "record number" of women in their 30's had babies in 1992, the report says. The overall number of births in the United States dipped in 1992 to slightly more than...