More Than a Third of Births 'Unintended': CDC

That number hasn't changed since the 1980s, government report finds

July 24, 2012 RSS Feed Print

"A lot of us who are parents think parenthood is just a delight for everybody, and that's certainly not what this report suggests," Mosher said.

Unintended births are both a public health and social problem, he said.

"If all births in the U.S. were intended there would be very few teen births, there would be much fewer births to unmarried women, there would be much fewer births to 20- to 24-year-olds," Mosher said. "Parenthood would be concentrated to married and cohabiting women 25 to about 39."

More information

For more statistics on U.S. births, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.