Teenage pregnancy is one of those totemic issues used to measure how well a society brings up its young people. And in study after study, the UK compares badly with other European countries, with teenage girls here five times more likely to become pregnant than their Dutch counterparts.
In 1999, the Government launched its Teenage Pregnancy Strategy with a target of halving the 90,000 teenage conceptions in 1998 by 2010, and an interim goal of a 15 per cent reduction by 2004. The latter was missed and few experts believe the Government will reach its objective. But the Government and its advisers insist there has been progress. Since the strategy was set out, the number of conceptions for under-18s has fallen by 11 per cent, while birth rates have come down by 20 per cent due to an increase in abortions. But progress is uneven and between 2004 and 2005 conceptions among women under 16 in fact nudged up by 0.3 per cent.
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