California’s teen birth rate in 2012 was just more than 25 babies born per 1,000 young women ages 15 to 19.
That represents a nearly 60 percent decline compared to the rate in 1995.
Teen birth rates have fallen among all racial and ethnic groups, and in all California counties. In fact, San Diego’s rate now stands below the state average.
State officials credit California’s laws that require all school-based sex education to be comprehensive and medically accurate.
Officials also point to California’s program, FamilyPACT, that provides free contraceptives and reproductive health counseling to low-income men and women.
Even so, nearly 35,000 babies were born to teen moms in California in 2012.
Experts say infants of teen mothers have an increased risk of behavioral problems and learning disabilities. They'll also more likely to end up as teen parents themselves.
