Scotland
Underage pregnancies
Key points
- The number of pregnancies to girls conceiving under age 16 is similar to a decade ago, although the number of actual births (as opposed to abortions) is lower. More specifically, while births have fallen by around 150 a year, from 450 to 300, abortions have risen by a similar number and now constitute the majority (60%) of the pregnancies.
- The rate of pregnancy among 13- to 15-year-old girls in the most deprived fifth of areas is twice as as high as the average, and four times as high as in the least deprived fifth. Similar differences have existed throughout the last decade. Inequalities in health, The Measuring Inequalities in Health working group, November 2003.
Graph 1: Over time
View Graph as PDF (resizeable) Right click to save large version of Graph as PNG
Graph 3: By level of deprivation
View Graph as PDF (resizeable) Right click to save large version of Graph as PNG
Definitions and data sources
The first graph shows the number of pregnancies per year to girls under the age of 16, with the data shown separately for delivered babies and for abortions. The data for each year is the number of conceptions that commenced in that year.
The second graph shows how the conception rate for girls aged 13 to 15 varies by the level of deprivation of the local area, with the data again shown separately for delivered babies and for abortions. The deprivation quintiles are defined using the 2004 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. To improve it statistical reliability, the data is the average for the latest three years.
The data source for both graphs is ISD Scotland.
Overall adequacy of the indicator: medium. The collection of the conception and births statistics is an established process.