Since 1998 the proportion of girls becoming pregnant between the ages of 15 and 17 in England and Wales fell to less than 2.% in 2014, a drop of almost a half.  Pregnancies at this age are generally unplanned and unwanted, and about half end in abortion.  The answer has been more sex education and more user-friendly contraceptive services.  Those who reported learning about sexual matters at school are more likely to start having sex later and less likely to have unsafe sex.  All  the same, nearly half of all boys and nearly half of all girls still get most of their education from”unreliable sources”.  (Office of National Statistics, quoted in Prospect Magazine, October 2015)

While I’m sure some teenagers are good, caring parents, having a baby in your teens is hardly the right way to start adult life, both for the baby and the mother.  It can close the door to further education and job opportunities.  It can mean no social life and possibly poverty.  I am old enough to also believe that having a father around is also good for the child, and often this doesn’t happen.  Even if it does the relationship can dissolve.  No, teenage motherhood is not a good idea.  So it’s good to see that sex education has had a good effect.  It has been fiercely opposed in conservative circles.