Status: 13.10.2023, 20:37 PM
By: Jana Stabner
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Fewer and fewer girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are becoming mothers. Why this is good news for the International Day of the Girl Child.
Just in time for the International Day of the Girl Child on 11 October, the Federal Statistical Office publishes figures on teenage mothers. In 2000, according to the United Nations, there were 18.1 million births to 15- to 19-year-old women. In 2023, there were only 12.8 million.
In Germany, an average of six children were born per 2022 female teenagers between the ages of 1000 and 15 in 19. Almost half as many as in 2000 – there were 13.
In Germany, there are fewer and fewer teen mothers. © photothek/IMAGO, Collage
Speaking of teenagers: 12 fashion life hacks from TikTok that I would have desperately needed as a teenager.
Teenage pregnancies are declining worldwide
The fact that teenage pregnancies are declining worldwide is good news. Why? Because they often go hand in hand with discrimination for girls. They restrict the personal development of young women as well as the opportunities for their school and vocational training and turn their entire lives upside down. One influencer gives this change the name "motherhood".
For this reason, the United Nations (UN) monitors the number of teenage mothers worldwide as part of the UN Sustainable Development Strategy. As part of the Sustainable Development Goals, they aim to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health care by 2030. This also includes family planning, information on contraception and education.
Depending on the region, the differences in teenage births are still large. In 2021, Central Africa had the highest number of babies (119 newborns per 1000 women aged 15 to 19). This is followed by West Africa with 104 newborns. In Western Europe, on the other hand, there were seven newborns for every 1000,<> young women – one child more than in Germany.
More on the topic: In the TikTok trend "I love you, but I miss her", mothers mourn the loss of their old selves.