Teen births hit new low

The number of teen births has continued to decline in the United States, hitting a record low between 2010 and 2011.

The new figures from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) show an 8 percent drop in teen births during that period. Just over three percent of 15- to 19-year-olds gave birth in that span. The teen birthrate peaked in 1991, researchers said.

The CDC reported that U.S. women in their 20s gave birth to fewer children, like their teenage counterparts, while those in their late 30s and early 40s had more children. 

Officials attributed some flux to the recovering economy, though other experts said the increased use of contraception among teens is having the desired effect.

"I think the main thing behind this is increased contraceptive use, and better contraceptive use," Dr. Krishna Upadhya, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, told Reuters.

The falling teen birthrate has led to 3.6 million fewer births among women that age since the 1990s, researchers said.

The statistics were published in the journal Pediatrics.

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