Data
Teenage pregnancy data
Annual 2021 conception data* released on 30 March 2023 by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that in England 13.1 per 1,000 young women under-18 became pregnant.
This is a small increase of 0.8% from 2020, but a 72% reduction since 1998, the baseline year for the original Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. The 2021 conception rate for under-16s also showed a slight increase from was 2.0/1000 13-15 year olds in 2020 to 2.1 in 2021. Both under-18 and under-16 rates are at the lowest level since records began in 1969.
*Care should be taken when comparing 2021 conception rates with 2012 to 2020 rates, until ONS have revised them based on the final 2012 to 2021 mid-year estimates, which will be available later in 2023.
England under 18 conception, maternity and abortion rates 1998 - 2021
Commenting on the data in the press statement from the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health, Alison Hadley, Director of the TPKE said:
“The small rise in England’s under-18 conception rate, is the first increase in 14 years. Although it may in part be due to lower rates in 2020 caused by behavioural changes during the pandemic lockdown periods, it is a stark caution against complacency and a timely prompt to redouble our efforts to ensure all young people have the knowledge and confidence they need to navigate healthy relationships and prevent unplanned pregnancy. That means effective implementation of high-quality relationships and sex education (RSE) in schools, open conversations at home, and providing easy access to youth friendly contraceptive services. Yet although RSE is mandatory in all schools, the Sex Education Forum 2022 Poll [PDF] of 16- & 17-year-olds found only 40% reported their RSE as good or very good, nearly 1 in 10 didn’t learn anything at all about condoms or contraception from their school RSE, and 56% had learnt not enough or nothing about how to access local sexual health services, despite this being a requirement of the statutory guidance. As one young person in the Poll noted, ‘Schools should definitely improve on teaching “accessing sexual health services”- this is a very easy thing to teach and doesn’t take much time’.
Critical too is addressing any impacts left from the pandemic. For example, ensuring the young people who missed out on RSE at school during Covid lockdowns – almost half (49%) in the SEF 2021 Poll [PDF] - are provided with information and support; proactively publicising the details of services as they return to face to face as well as digital provision; and working with statutory and voluntary sector agencies to provide targeted RSE and links to services for young people most at risk, particularly the increased number of teenagers who have not returned to education. Although there has been a hugely significant 72% reduction in conception rates since 1998, inequalities persist at regional, local and individual level. Reversing the rising trend in the wider determinants of early pregnancy and poor outcomes – notably family poverty, school absence and exclusion and poor attainment – will be key to providing equity of choice and opportunity for all young people.”
Under 18 conceptions by region
All regions have seen declines since 1998 but as the table below shows, there remain variations in progress and rates.
To see your local area’s data for 2021 view the full ONS data set
Table 6 shows the under-18 conception rate for each LA (top tier and district) from 1998-2021. Table 5 shows the under-16 conception rate for each LA from 2009-2019.
All top tier local authorities have seen declines since 1998, but there remains a big difference in progress and rates between areas. Reductions range from 40% to over 80% and there is 7-fold variation in the rate between local authorities. Sixty percent of local authorities have at least one ward with a rate significantly higher than England.
Have a look at your local area’s progress over the last 20 years. The final column of the spreadsheet shows progress from 1998-2021 in the rate of under-18 conceptions, maternities and abortions.
In the ONS Conceptions Data publication, there is also an interactive map and table showing individual LA rate change over the last ten years from 2011 to 2021. This includes district rate changes which is helpful for identifying inequalities within local areas.
Quarterly conception data
ONS have also published under-18 conception rate quarterly data for the four quarters of 2021 at national and Local Authority level. Tab 1 shows the numbers of conceptions, Tab 2 the conception rate and Tab 3 the rolling annual conception rate. Because of some seasonal variation, it is usual practice to compare the same quarter each year rather than consecutive quarters. However, the rolling annual conception rate provides the most accurate picture of the overall trend. The next quarterly data, Q1 2022 is expected to be published ONS in June/July.
Public Health England Teenage Pregnancy Reports
PHE Fingertips provides a Teenage Pregnancy and Young Parents report for each local authority.
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