Adolescent fertility is declining worldwide

Abstract

In 2010, there were 54 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 in
the world, 16% fewer than in 2000. The decline in early childbearing is associated with women's later marriage or entry into union, in turn a consequence of increased female school enrolment and women's enhanced status in society. In France, after increasing during the first three-quarters of the twentieth century as attitudes to sexuality became more relaxed, the 1970s and 1980s saw a four-fold decrease in the frequency of early childbearing thanks to the legalization of contraception and abortion.