Highest U.S. Teen Birthrates Clustered in Southern States

Chicago Tribune: Highest teen birthrates are in the South:

A CDC study finds a slight dip in the overall teen birthrate to 41.5 births per 1,000, with the highest rate, 65.7, seen in the state of Mississippi. The lowest are in the northeast.

The highest teenage birthrates in the U.S. are clustered in Southern states and the lowest in the Northeast and upper Midwest, government researchers said Wednesday.

Birthrates fell to an average of 41.5 births per 1,000 female teens in 2008 from 42.5 in 2007, with 14 states seeing declines. That followed an increase from 2005 to 2007, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics.

The differences are important because teen parents are less likely to pursue higher education, their children are less likely to be healthy, and they earn less on average than people who have children later. . . .