The outcome of teenage pregnancy : temporal and spatial trends

Teenage fertility was low in the 1920s; it rose during the 1950s and 1960s, and fell sharply during the 1970s. Today it is lower than it was in 1921. There are four possible outcomes of teenage pregnancy: birth within marriage; adoption; ex-nuptial birth and single motherhood; or abortion. Today the first two outcomes are rare and around half of all teenage pregnancies result in ex-nuptial births while the other half are aborted. Teenage fertility varies sharply with location. In New South Wales in 1996 it was relatively high in regional areas and much lower in inner Sydney. Data on abortion by location and age are less reliable but they suggest an opposite pattern: higher levels in inner Sydney and lower levels in regional areas Copyright. Monash University and the author/s