"We face a serious public health challenge regarding the sexual health of our nation....doing nothing is unacceptable. If we are to meet this challenge, we must find common ground and reach consensus on the nature of these problems and their possible solutions, consistent with the best available science."
—Surgeon General David Satcher, June 28, 2001

1. The U.S. has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the industrialized world – twice as high as in England or Canada.
   
   
2. 2006 saw the first rise in the U.S. teen pregnancy rate in 15 years.
   
   
3. An estimated 750,000 teens will become pregnant this year.
   
   
4. About 1 in 3 women become pregnant at least once before they're 20.
   
   
5. A sexually active teen who does not use contraceptives has a 90% chance of becoming pregnant within a year.
   
   
6. It affects education—only a third of teen mothers earn their high school diploma. And only 1.5% have a college degree by age 30.
   
   
7. It also affects their kids—girls born to teen mothers are more likely to be teen mothers themselves. Boys born to teen moms are more likely to end up in prison.
   
   
8. 75% of girls and over half of boys report that girls who have sex do so because their boyfriends want them to.
   
   
9. 8 in 10 girls and 6 in 10 boys say they wish they had waited until they were older to have sex.
   
   
10. Most teens (6 in 10) and adults (3 in 4) believe that teen boys often receive the message that they are “expected to have sex.”
    
    
11. Diapers are expensive, but it's nothing compared to the $9 billion that teen pregnancy costs the United States each year. This includes increased spending in child welfare costs and public sector health care.