Births to teens have declined to historic lows in recent years, both in Wisconsin and nationally.

That’s good news. Children of teen parents face more challenges than children of older parents — they’re more likely to have health problems associated with prematurity, do poorly in school, be involved in the foster care system, and grow up in poverty. Teen childbearing costs taxpayers an additional $9 billion each year in the areas of health care, child welfare, corrections, and lost tax revenue, according to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

In Wisconsin, the share of total births that occurred to teens declined by nearly 30 percent between 1989 and 2010. This interactive KIDS COUNT Data Feature lets you explore racial disparities in births to teens in Wisconsin and differences in births to between older and younger teens.

The reduction in teen births is the result of strong pregnancy prevention messages to teens and increased contraceptive use among teenagers, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The KIDS COUNT Data Center has more information about child well-being in Wisconsin and other states.

Tamarine Cornelius