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Births to teen moms in California reached a record low in 2008, according to new figures released by the state Department of Public Health.
About 35 babies were born that year for every 1,000 teen females, nearly two fewer babies than the 2007 rate.
“California is bucking a national trend in which we see the teen birth rate across the country climb, while California’s rate has fallen,” said department spokesman Ken August.
The U.S. teen birth rate for 2007 was 42.5 per 1,000, up from 40.5 in 2005.
The California birth rate, which has been lower than the overall U.S. rate since 1999, has dropped significantly since 1991, when nearly 71 children were born per 1,000 teen women.
The new numbers also reveal a steep decline in the Latina teen birth rate. While figures for African Americans, Caucasians and Asians and Pacific Islanders dropped only slightly between 2006 and 2008, the rate among Latinas fell from 65 in 2006 to 56.9 in 2008.
Only one group rose – multiracial babies, from 24.6 in 2006 to 29.0 in 2008.
— Amina Khan
Photo: Sandra Teddy / Getty Images
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