One-third of pregnancies in the United States are unwanted

May 10 2007

One-third of pregnancies in the United States are unwanted, according to a new analysis released by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.

That is, 2 million of the 6.4 million pregnancies in 2001 were unwanted (most recent data available). Over half (54%) of unwanted pregnancies occur to women in their twenties. And there is evidence that the rate of unwanted pregnancies may be increasing.

This large number of unwanted pregnancies has far-reaching consequences for women, men, children, families, and society. To help ensure that more pregnancies are wanted and welcome, the National Campaign announced today that it is expanding its work to include young adults in their 20s and early 30s while still maintaining its focus on teens.

"While our mission is expanding, our ultimate goal is not -- we will continue to work to improve the well-being of children, families, and society," said Sarah Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the National Campaign. "By reducing the high number of unplanned, unwanted pregnancies among young adults in their 20s and early 30s -- in addition to helping teens avoid early pregnancy -- young people will have more opportunities and control over their lives, more children will grow up in intact, married families, there will be less poverty, lower public costs, a lighter burden on taxpayers, and less need for abortion."

The new analysis by the National Campaign indicating that about one in three pregnancies in America are unwanted includes: (1) births resulting from pregnancies that women themselves say they did not want (approximately 567,000), (2) pregnancies that end in abortion (approximately 1.3 million), and (3) miscarriages that were also from unwanted pregnancies (approximately 179,000).

The expanded mission of the National Campaign was announced by Thomas H. Kean, Chairman of the National Campaign's Board of Directors and the former Governor of New Jersey, Isabel V. Sawhill, Ph.D., President of the National Campaign's Board of Directors and Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, Sarah Brown, and Kimberlydawn Wisdom, M.D., Surgeon General, State of Michigan, and Vice President, Henry Ford Health System. Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent & Editor of 2008 Political Coverage, PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, served as the moderator for the event.

The National Campaign's new focus is made possible by generous support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation which has made a ten year commitment to preventing unwanted pregnancy and reducing the need for abortion in America. "We are very pleased to support the National Campaign as they add the important goal of reducing unwanted pregnancy among young adults in their twenties and early thirties." said Sara Seims, Director of the Population Program at the Hewlett Foundation. "Increasing the proportion of children that are born to parents who want and welcome a child will have profound benefits for children, families and society."

New Survey Data

Two nationally representative telephone surveys of 1,000 Americans aged 18 and older conducted in March and April of 2007 by the Glover Park Group and Public Strategies Inc. show that the majority of Americans believe that unwanted pregnancy is an important problem. Seven in ten (69%) Americans favor the goal of reducing unwanted pregnancies in the United States.

However, the magnitude of the unwanted pregnancy problem in the United States -- and which groups are most at risk -- is not well understood. In particular, very few Americans realize that teens are only a small part of the problem. For example:

Even though less than 20 percent of all abortions are to teens, 4 out of 5 Americans think that the percentage is higher (often much higher). 77 percent of Americans assume that teens have the highest number of unplanned pregnancies; in fact, women in their 20s do.

Survey participants also cited strong support for the National Campaign's three core strategies for reducing teen and unwanted pregnancy: personal responsibility, education, and responsible use of contraception.

New Data on Consequences

New data from Child Trends released today by the National Campaign indicates that 2-year-old children who were born as the result of an unwanted pregnancy had significantly lower cognitive test scores

• including listening, vocabulary, exploring, problem solving, memory and communication
• when compared to children born as the result of an intended pregnancy.

Existing research shows that unwanted pregnancy is at the root of a number of important public health and social challenges:

• Women experiencing an unwanted pregnancy are less likely to obtain prenatal care, and their babies are at increased risk of both low birthweight and of being born prematurely.
• Children born from unwanted pregnancies also face a range of developmental risks as well. For example, these children report poorer physical and mental health compared to children born as the result of an intended pregnancy.
• The majority of children from an unwanted pregnancy are born to unmarried women. This is important because children raised in single-parent families face more challenges in a variety of areas than do children raised in two-parent, low-conflict married families.
• Unwanted pregnancy also lies behind the vast majority of the 1.3 million abortions in America. And although Americans differ a great deal in their views about abortion, virtually all of us see value in lessening the need for abortion and would prefer that fewer women have to confront an unwanted pregnancy in the first place.

Media Involvement

Fox Broadcasting Company and Lifetime Entertainment announced today that they will expand their long-standing commitment to the National Campaign by finding creative ways to connect with young adults about preventing unwanted pregnancy while retaining teen pregnancy prevention as a top priority.

"We know the media can be a powerful force in young people's lives, and when issues that are important to them are addressed in their favorite programming, it helps them define their own views and values," said Craig Erwich, Executive Vice President of Programming, Fox Broadcasting Company. "That's why I look forward to working closely with the National Campaign on creative ways to support both teens and young adults in the years ahead. "

"Lifetime Entertainment is proud to join the National Campaign in this next new exciting phase," said Susanne Daniels, President of Lifetime Entertainment Services. "We know from many years of collaborating with the National Campaign that we can make a real difference in the lives of young women as they grapple with some of the most important personal issues they'll ever face."

Over the past decade, the National Campaign has worked in partnership with media leaders such as The CW, MySpace.com, People/Time Inc., Warner Bros, MTV, The N, Latina and many others to reach teens and parents with prevention messages. The Campaign will continue to work with these and other outlets to help inform and spark action among young adults in their 20s and early 30s as well.