I'm going to try and write this without once referring to the movie Juno. (Crap, does that count?) Remember back in the day, when you could easily wax hysterical over the issue of teen pregnancy? When we were freaked about babies having babies? Well, in the U.S. teen pregnancy rates are falling, so it's going to be that much harder to whip ourselves into a lather, and that is good. In 2004, only 12 percent of pregnancies were to teen moms, compared to 15 percent in 1990. Oh, and one likely factor in the drop is the more frequent use of birth control methods. Imagine that.
However, there is another group who are having babies outside of marriage, and I guarantee you we'll see more fear-mongering stories about at least some of them. Turns out birth rates are going up for unmarried women in their twenties, and also for older women. Maybe twenties is the new teens? Now while teen pregnancy is obviously not ideal, I'm curious to see how these women under thirty fare with babies. Anyhow, let's just be glad more of the kids are using condoms.
