A recent study shows that more girls across the U.S. are abstaining from sex until late in their teens and even into their 20s. The biggest decline in the rate of sexual activity is among Hispanics and African-Americans said the study performed by the Centers for Disease Control. Fifty-seven percent of the girls in the survey between 15 and 19 reported they had yet to have experienced vaginal intercourse. In 1995, the rate was 49%.
The percentage of girls who reported still being a virgin was close to the same between whites, Hispanics and African-Americans, for the first time since the survey had been performed by the CDC. Disparities along racial lines still persist however, in the number of females that use the most effective types of birth control including the pill, ring, patches, injections, IUDs and implants.
Close to 60% of teens who were sexually active reported, they used those types of birth control in the survey time frame of 2006 to 2010. In 1995, that percentage was just 47%. In the most recent survey, 66% of white sexually active teens said their choice of birth control was the most effective type, compared to just 54% of Hispanics and 46% of African-Americans.
The delay in becoming sexually activity combined with the increases in the use of birth control are the biggest reasons for the sharp decline in the number of teen pregnancies, said the CDC.
Since 1990, when they were at their peak, rates for teen pregnancy have fallen by over 40% and continue to be at their lowest in 30 years. In 2010, the rate of births among girls 15 to 19 was 34 per 1,000 females, a decline of over 44% in only 20 years.
