New Survey Data of Teens and Adults Released
8/28/2012
(Washington,
DC) -- Three-quarters (75%) of adultsthink
policymakers who are opposed to abortion should be strong supporters of birth
control, according to a new survey
commissioned by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned
Pregnancy.
Regarding
sex education, more than 6 in 10 adults (65%) believe federally funded programs
designed to prevent teen pregnancy should provide teens with information about both postponing sex and using birth
control rather than either/or.In
addition, most adults believe that taxpayer supported programs should focus on
results rather than ideology -- 72% say that federal funds should primarily
support those programs that have been proven to change behavior related to teen
pregnancy.Nearly 7 in 10 (68%) adults
surveyed believe their community needs more efforts to prevent teen pregnancy.
The
telephone survey of 1,032 adults age 20 and older and 1,002 young people age
12-19 was conducted by Social Science Research
Solutions, an independent company.The survey is weighted to provide nationally representative estimates of
both groups. The margin of error for the
surveys is +/-3.10 for teens and +/-3.05 for adults. Other
findings from the survey include:
-
Abstinence and
contraception.
93% of adults and 87% of teens
think it is important for teens to be given a strong message about delaying
sex.However, most do not think
that should be the only message -- 74% of adults wish young people were getting
information about both abstinence and
contraception rather than either/or.
-
Importance of teen
pregnancy.
90% of adults and teens believe
that teen pregnancy is an important issue compared to other social and economic
problems.
-
Parents.
Teens
say that parents (38%) most influence
their decisions about sex -- more than peers (22%), the media (9%), teachers and
educators (4%), and others.
-
Fatalism.
42% of teens say "it doesn't matter whether you use birth control or
not, when it is your time to get pregnant it will happen."
-
Knowledge.
82%
of teens say they have all the information they need to avoid an unplanned
pregnancy yet many admit they know "little or nothing" about condoms (47%) and
birth control pills (72%).
-
Media.
77%
of teens who have seen the MTV shows 16
and Pregnant and Teen Mom, say
the shows help teens better understand the challenges of pregnancy and
parenting.
Complete
survey results, including the wording of the questions asked, can be found in With
One Voice 2012:America's Adults and
Teens Sound Off About Teen Pregnancy.
Teen
pregnancy and birth rates in the U.S. have declined by more than 40% since the
early 1990s.There have been declines in
all 50 states and among all racial/ethnic groups.Despite this impressive progress,nearly 3 in 10 teen girls in the U.S. get
pregnant and the U.S. continues to have the highest rate of teen pregnancy in
the industrialized world.
Visit http://www.TheNationalCampaign.org/wov/
for more information on the With One
Voice survey.
Download a PDF version of this release.
About The National Campaign:
The National Campaign
to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy seeks to improve the lives and future
prospects of children and families.�Our
specific strategy is to prevent teen pregnancy and unplanned pregnancy among
single, young adults.�We support
a combination of responsible values and behavior by both men and women and
responsible policies in both the public and private sectors.�If we are successful, child and family
well-being will improve.
