Over eight in every ten teenage boys who have sex for the first time now use a condom, an increase of 9 percentage points compared to 2002, according to a report issued by the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The report, called “Teenagers in the United States: Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing, 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth,” also reported that 16% of male teens during their first sexual intercourse use a condom even though their female sexual partner also has a hormonal method of contraception, a rise of 6 percentage points compared to 2002.
Below are some highlighted data from the report:
- 43% of female teens who had never married had had sexual intercourse at least once in 2006-2010
- 42% of male teens who had never married had had sexual intercourse at least once in 2006-2010
- Levels of sexual experience among American teens have not changed much since 2002. Compared to 20 years ago, slightly fewer teens have had sexual intercourse today.
- 78% of teenage females used a method of contraception during their first sexual experience in 2010. The figure is virtually the same as in 2002.
- 85% of male teenagers used contraceptives during their first sexual experience. The main method of contraception is the condom. None percentage more in 2010 than in 2002.
- 6% of females in 2010 used hormonal methods of contraception other than the pill, compared to 2% in 2002. Examples include the contraceptive patch and injectables.
- African-American (non-Hispanic) teenage males have the highest percentage of sexual experience
- Hispanic males (teenage) have the highest percentage of using no contraceptive during their last sexual encounter
Despite this encouraging news, the teenage birth rate in the USA is considerably higher than in ALL other developed nations, and several developing countries.
Live births per 1,000 women 15-19 years old:
(Source: UNFPA, State of World Population)
- United States – 53
- Brazil – 45
- Chile – 44
- Bulgaria – 41
- Saudi Arabia – 38
- Ukraine – 38
- Romania – 37
- Armenia – 34
- Macedonia – 34
- Georgia – 33
- Russia – 30
- Belarus – 27
- New Zealand – 27
- Estonia – 26
- Lithuania – 26
- Latvia – 24
- Slovakia – 24
- Bosnia and Herzegovina – 23
- Hungary – 21
- United Kingdom – 20
- Croatia – 19
- Iceland – 19
- Czech Republic – 17
- Israel – 17
- Portugal – 17
- Albania – 16
- Australia – 16
- Canada – 16
- Poland – 16
- Ireland – 15
- Austria – 12
- Malta – 12
- Germany – 11
- Norway – 11
- Cyprus – 10
- Greece – 10
- Belgium – 9
- France – 9
- Luxembourg – 9
- Finland – 8
- Slovenia – 8
- Denmark – 7
- Sweden – 7
- Italy – 6
- Singapore – 6
- Spain – 6
- China – 5
- Netherlands – 5
- Switzerland – 5
- Japan – 4
- South Korea – 3
Written by Christian Nordqvist