ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 5, 1996 TAG: 9610070067
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
The birth rate for unmarried women last year dropped for the first time in almost two decades, while the teen birth rate declined for the fourth year in a row, the government said Friday.
The report from the National Center for Health Statistics was greeted as good news all around, with liberals and conservatives agreeing that greater awareness of the hardship of raising a child alone has contributed to the decline.
Beyond that, liberals said the reason is better use of contraceptives, while conservatives said more teen-agers are abstaining from sex until marriage. Demographers ruled out another possibility: abortion. Abortion rates also have been going down.
The news was pulled into the presidential campaign crossfire. President Clinton, who helped launch a national effort to reduce teen pregnancy, quickly claimed some of the credit.
``For far too long, many Americans believed there was nothing we could do about our most vexing social problems but now it's different,'' Clinton said in a draft of today's radio address released by the White House. ``Americans are standing up for our values. The American family is getting stronger, and we are making responsibility a way of life.''
GOP candidate Bob Dole's campaign went on the offensive.
``If Clinton is taking credit for reducing teen pregnancy, then he must also accept blame for the massive increase in teen drug use under his watch,'' said press secretary Christina Martin. ``It's time to elect a president who will show moral leadership in every area, not just the ones that make his poll numbers go up.''
The report, citing preliminary birth and death statistics for 1995, showed that:
*The birth rate for unmarried women dropped by 4 percent to 44.9 births per 1,000 women - the first decline since 1976. About half the change was due to better record-keeping on births in California. Nonetheless, demographers said the drop is real. Two other indicators on births to unmarried women also fell - the first time all three measures dropped since 1940. White, black and Hispanic women all experienced declines. ``We're very confident of this,'' said demographer Stephanie Ventura.
*The birth rate for women aged 15-19 fell by 3 percent to 56.9 live births per 1,000 women. Black teens experienced the biggest decline, a drop of nearly 9 percent to 95.5 births per 1,000. It was the fourth year in a row that the teen pregnancy rate has declined. ``People all around the country who are engaged in the effort to reduce teen pregnancy have been working very hard - it is paying some dividends,'' said Isabel Sawhill, president of the nonprofit National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
*For the first time since the AIDS epidemic broke out, the death rate from the disease held steady.
*Homicide rates dropped by 15 percent, a preliminary figure that may be revised to show a less dramatic improvement. The homicide rate dropped for white and black men, and for black women. It was unchanged for white women, who have the lowest rate to begin with.
*Infant mortality reached a record low of 7.5 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, as more mothers-to-be received medical care in the first three months of pregnancy.
Florida Rep. Clay Shaw, a leading Republican author of the recently passed welfare reform law, said he expects teen pregnancy and out-of-wedlock births to continue declining as the legislation takes hold in the states. The law requires welfare recipients to find jobs, and it sets a time limit on benefits.
``This drop in out-of-wedlock births is small and helpful, but our nation hasn't seen anything yet,'' Shaw said. ``I am heartened by today's news because poverty too often finds its roots in out-of-wedlock births.''
But Sawhill, leader of a national campaign to reduce teen pregnancy, said the availability of government benefits is not the only reason young women have babies. She pointed out that many European countries have much more generous welfare systems, and far lower teen pregnancy rates.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB