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School - teenage pregnancy

The Social Exclusion Report on Teenage Pregnancy (June 1999) stated that Britain had the worst record of teenage pregnancies in Europe with approximately 90,000 teenagers becoming pregnant every year. Every part of the country is affected, but the situation is worst in the poorest areas. The report highlighted two main goals:

• reducing the rate of teenage conceptions, with the specific aim of halving the rate of conceptions among under 18s by 2010
• getting more teenage parents into education, training or employment, to reduce the risk of long term social exclusion

The Teenage Pregnancy Unit , a cross-Government unit located within the Department of Health, was set up to implement the Report.

A National Action Plan was developed which included:

• a national campaign to improve understanding and change behaviour
• joined Up action - through the national unit and local co-ordination
• better Prevention - better education in and out of school, access to contraception, targeting at-risk groups such as youth offenders
• better Support for Teenage Parents- around education, childcare and housing