ABSTRACT
Britain has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in Europe with some 90 000 young women conceiving every year, and with a well-established link between those young women under 16 who become pregnant and social exclusion. A third of pregnancies among 16-to19-year-olds are terminated, with adverse effects on physical and mental health. Some 8.5 per cent of these young mothers are under 16 when they conceive. These rates are three times that of France and six times that of Holland. Over two-thirds of children living in families where the mother is aged 16-24 are in the poorest 30 percent of the population. Some 10 per cent of 18-to 24-year-olds are on means-tested benefits (NPI 2000; SEU 1999a).
