Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
 

Changing Direction:
Support Sex Education That Works

  • The U.S. teen pregnancy rate has declined 28% since its peak in 1990, and is at its lowest level in 30 years.
  • The majority of this decline was due to improved contraceptive use. Only a small proportion of the decline was due to more teens delaying first sex.
  • Most Americans support comprehensive sex education that both encourages young people to delay sexual activity and provides medically accurate information about contraception.
  • Numerous studies show that comprehensive sex education is effective at promoting both delays in sexual activity and protective behaviors for teens who become sexually active.
  • However, one in three teens currently get no education about birth control at all, and of those who do, many do not get it when they need it most—before they start to have sex.
  • Federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage education has totaled well over $1 billion since 1996.
  • Yet two decades of research have failed to find evidence that these programs delay sexual activity or reduce teen pregnancy.

NEWS RELEASES

Strong Evidence Favors Comprehensive Approach To Sex Ed

U.S. Teen Pregnancy Rates Are Down Primarily Because Teens Are Using Contraceptives Better

One in Three Teens Get No Formal Education About Birth Control

PUBLIC POLICY EXPERT STATEMENT

"Since 1996 the federal government has poured more than a billion dollars into unrealistic abstinence-only-until-marriage education programs, even though there is clear evidence that they are not effective in stopping or even delaying teen sex," says Heather Boonstra, senior public policy associate with the Guttmacher Institute. "These programs are a waste of taxpayer dollars, and, worse, leave teens unprepared to protect themselves against unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections when they do become sexually active. If we truly want to protect the next generation, it's time to start supporting programs that provide them with comprehensive, medically accurate information that teaches the benefits of abstinence while also providing the information they need to remain safe and healthy.”

RESEARCH EXPERT STATEMENT

"The body of evidence overwhelmingly shows that improving teen contraceptive use reduces teen pregnancy. Yet instead of providing teens with the information they need to protect themselves, federally funded programs instead focus on the unrealistic approach of simply telling teens to abstain from sex until marriage," says Laura Lindberg, senior research associate with the Guttmacher Institute. "As a result, young people are increasingly unlikely to receive medically accurate information in schools, and many do not get that information when they need it most—in time to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.”

To set up an interview, contact Rebecca Wind at 212-248-1953 or rwind@guttmacher.org.