The news that conceptions in under 18s has reached a 46 year low is being hailed by some as a "triumph of progressive politics". Teenage girls giving birth is now fewer than 25 per thousand aged 15-17. Good news right? Wrong.
What is not being talked about more openly is that while conceptions have dropped, abortions have risen and this means that unplanned pregnancies are on the rise. 51% of teenage pregnancies in England lead to abortion. In Wales it is 45%.
So is UK policy working? When the latest figures were released many commentators discussed the reasons for the drop in conceptions and higher aspirations in young women and a stigma in being a teenage parent quoted as reasons girls choose not to become a teenage mum.
Looking at the abortion rates I am inclined to think that maybe we are failing young women. I hail any initiative that builds confidence and aspirations in young women. But confidence to insist on safe sex and high self esteem to realise the value in either saying no or insisting on condom use is clearly not there if the number of abortions are actually increasing.
Choosing not to have a baby is as important as choosing to have one and with so many young women struggling with this decision as young as 13 it appears to me that we haven't really addressed the issue of safe sex and contraception in young people so we can't get complacent right now about 'teenage pregnancy'.
In contrast, the Netherlands, abortion rates are low due to a culture of practicing safe sex. The Netherlands has a much more open culture. Sex education in schools is age-appropriate sex education - compulsory in all secondary and primary schools. As a result, The Netherlands has one of the lowest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe and in the world.
In England and Wales, we don't have clear direction and leadership on sex education despite countless charities lobbying the Government for consistent action on this issue. Predominantly, sex education in England and Wales is not compulsory and parents can refuse to let their children be involved in sex ed lessons.
An Ofsted report released in 2013 highlighted a lack of high-quality, age-appropriate sex education in more than a third of schools in England. As sex education is optional, it means that there is no training for teachers on the subject and this results in variations in sex education from school to school.
The value in 'really good' sex education is enormous but for some reason we are not maximising that value. A study comparing the implications of comprehensive sex education against an abstinence-only approach on sexual activity and teen pregnancy found that teenagers who received comprehensive sex education were 50% less likely to become pregnant during their teens than those who only received an abstinence-only approach. Another study reviewed comprehensive sex education programmes and found that 13 programmes significantly declined teen pregnancy rates as well as HIV or STI infection.
A call to action has been made by the Education Committee for the Government to strengthen and improve its sex education programmes for future generations and we welcome this. Shying away from this issue at a local and national level is not an option. Failing young women is not an option. Unsafe sex should never be an option.
And as we see behaviour changing (we know that teenagers and young people are behaving differently) we need to address unsafe sex in its entirety -and I don't just mean the act of penetrative sex. One in three 15 year-olds are sending a naked photo of themselves by phone or over the internet and this isn't safe.
There is now a lot of evidence on what works and what doesn't and it is time to start putting much of what is already known into practice. For a start, If teachers aren’t trained to provide appropriate sex education, they shouldn’t be providing it in the first place. Local authorities should also work with sexual health services to provide adequate and appropriate sex education to children and young people - in a range of spaces (including online). By doing so, children and young people will have confidence in the information, as well as being able to receive answers from adults in an open and honest environment. Maybe we should accept that teachers are not the right people to solve this issue as many feel uncomfortable to address any questions asked. And finally, the role of parents and the family needs to be discussed.
And this is not just an issue for the girls. We need to work more with teenage boys.
Having previously worked on teenage pregnancy research and campaign projects and sexual health campaigns all aimed to helping to reduce local teenage pregnancy rates and increase safe sex and improve screening rates, we have first hand experience in understanding behaviours, engaging with the right target audience & stakeholders, and producing tailored campaigns and behavioural insight to generate results and make a difference in this area.
To find out more on how we can help reduce teenage pregnancies and unplanned pregnancies and to talk about working with young people in your area, feel free to get in touch with a member of our team to see how we can help.
