Fewer teenage births in England and Wales: a convergence towards Europe?

Abstract

Between 2010 and 2015, births to teenage mothers were more frequent in England than in France, due partly to a lower level of contraceptive use and less frequent recourse to abortion. But behaviours are changing. Thanks to efforts to inform young people about sexuality and  contraception, along with greater use of contraceptives and recourse to abortion, the teenage fertility rate has fallen sharply in England in recent years and is moving closer to the levels observed in the rest of western Europe.