The figures, released this week by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), confirmed that pregnancy rates for young people aged under-18 in England and Wales have continued to fall.
The under-18 conception rate for 2014 is the lowest since 1969 at 22.9 conceptions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 17. The number of conceptions fell to 22,653 in 2014 compared with 24,306 in 2013 – down 6.8 per cent.
For young women aged under-16, the conception rate for 2014 stands at 4.4 per 1,000. There were 4,160 conceptions in 2014, compared with 4,648 in 2013 – a fall of 10 per cent.
Seventy-two per cent of the under-16 conceptions in 2014 involved 15-year-olds.
The ONS puts the continued reduction down to programmes introduced by successive governments, such as improved access to contraceptives and SRE education. It also cites a “perceived stigma” of being a teenage mother that now exists.
However, the figures have come alongside a warning that England and Wales continue to have a higher rate of under-18 pregnancies when compared to other Western European countries.
The ONS statistical release states: “Since 1998 there has been a reduction of more than 50 per cent in the under-18 conception rate. However the rate remains higher than similar Western European countries and progress varies between local areas.”
The Sex Education Forum (SEF) said this week that SRE is key to tackling teenage pregnancy but warned that too many young people are not receiving effective lessons.
It has reiterated its calls for PSHE and SRE to be made statutory curriculum subjects in schools – a proposal that was dismissed by education secretary Nicky Morgan earlier this year.
SEF research has previously highlighted problems with patchy provision of SRE across the country.
The charity’s coordinator, Lucy Emmerson, explained: “There is compelling evidence that where good-quality SRE is available it leads to a reduction in teenage pregnancies.
“Yet nearly a quarter of young people rated the SRE they received at school as bad or very bad, and four in 10 young people are unsure where to find their local sexual health clinic. So the education on offer is far from standard.
“Imagine what (the) statistics might have been if every school in the country had this vital subject on the timetable. The downward trend in teenage conceptions can only be sustained if SRE becomes a statutory requirement in all schools.”
For more on the work and resources of the SEF, visit www.sexeducationforum.org.uk