Is Flanders winning the battle against teen pregnancies?
The number of Flemish teenage mums keeps steadily declining. Last year, 945 girls aged between 10 and 19 gave birth. This is the lowest number since 1996, when the data was first recorded. The numbers are based on a report from Antwerp University’s Centre of Social Policies.
For the first time since 1996, fewer than 1,000 teenage girls gave birth in 2013. The decline is the largest amongst girls aged 18 and 19, with the number of adult teen mums dropping by 17%. The amount of minors giving birth remained more or less the same. The youngest girl to give birth last year was 14 years old.
It is unclear whether the number of teen pregnancies has declined as well. As long as there is no clear data on the abortion rates in 2013, the evolution of teen pregnancies can’t be correctly determined.