Facts & Figures
2008
Analysis of the Need for Teen Pregnancy and Adolescent Childbearing
Prevention in Connecticut Communities
Revised October 2008
By: Rosemary S.
Richter, M.A.
Family Planning Program
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
University of Connecticut Health Center
For about twelve years, rates of teen pregnancy and adolescent
childbearing had fallen in Connecticut, echoing a nationwide trend.
However, in the last year or two there appears to be a change in that
trend. Across the nation, rates of teen pregnancy and adolescent
childbearing seem to be increasing. On recent review, it appears that
in some Connecticut communities, adolescent childbearing is a more
significant problem when compared to the state overall. Certain
communities consistently differ from the state average in that a much
larger proportion of resident births are to teenaged mothers. In some
communities, the proportion of resident births to teen mothers is double
that of the statewide average. The following analysis delineates where
in Connecticut the need for addressing teen pregnancy is the greatest,
and identifies communities that might reap the most benefit from efforts
to reduce teen pregnancy and adolescent childbearing.
Data from the Annual Registration Reports from the Connecticut
Department of Public Health were used in this analysis. The most recent
data from DPH includes the time period 2002 through 2006.
Averaging the annual percentage of births to teens over the five year
period 2002 through 2006 identifies 23 individual communities that
exceeded the statewide average for births to teen mothers (aged 19 or
younger) and is depicted in
Table 1.
These data demonstrate that larger cities (including Hartford,
Bridgeport, New Haven and Waterbury) as well as mid-sized cities
(including New Britain, Meriden, East Hartford, Norwich, Torrington,
West Haven and Bristol) and some small towns (including Windham, New
London, Killingly, Putnam, Griswold, Ansonia, Thompson, Groton,
Montville, Vernon, Winchester and Derby) all exhibit patterns of
adolescent childbearing that exceed the statewide average.
It is important to note however, that several communities do not
exceed the statewide average for every single year in this analysis.
These communities are listed in Table 2.
The communities include Putnam, Griswold, Ansonia, Thompson, Torrington,
Groton, Montville, Bristol, Vernon, Winchester and Derby. With the
exceptions of Torrington, Bristol and Vernon, all of these other
communities have total populations under 20,000. This is an indication
that small fluctuations in the actual number of births to teen mothers
could have a large impact on the percentage of all births that occur
among teen mothers, possibly accounting for years when an individual
community’s average dips below the state average. It is also possible
that in these communities, that the problem of teen pregnancy and
adolescent childbearing, while worse than many other communities in
Connecticut, may not be as acute a problem as in the communities that
consistently exceeded the statewide average.
Neediest Communities in Connecticut
A list of
Connecticut communities that consistently exceeded the statewide average
for births to teen mothers can be found in
Table 3. These communities include Hartford, New Britain,
Windham, Waterbury, New London, Bridgeport, New Haven, Meriden,
Killingly, East Hartford, Norwich, and West Haven. For each of the five
years, these cities and towns demonstrated a pattern of adolescent
childbearing that was worse than the state as a whole. These 12
communities would appear to be poised to reap the greatest benefits from
efforts to prevent teen pregnancy and adolescent childbearing.
To
see the trend data specific to a particular community in comparison to
the overall state data, please click the town name.
Summary
When using
a simple arithmetic average over five years, 23 Connecticut communities
can be identified as exhibiting a pattern of births to teen mothers
which exceeds the statewide average. Of these 23 communities, several
do not show a consistent pattern of exceeding the statewide
average of births to teenaged mothers. Inconsistency is exhibited in
the following communities: Putnam, Griswold, Ansonia, Thompson,
Torrington, Groton, Montville, Bristol, Vernon, Winchester and Derby.
In each of these communities in one or two years of the five year
period, the percentage of births to teens was in fact lower than
the statewide average. Communities that consistently exceed the
statewide average of proportion of all resident births to teen mothers
are communities that would benefit the most from interventions aimed at
preventing teen pregnancy and adolescent childbearing in Connecticut.
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