Quiz: After Mexico, which OECD country has the highest rate of teen births?

For those of you who don’t subscribe to the bimonthly print edition of Foreign Policy, you’re missing a great feature: the FP Quiz. It has eight intriguing questions about how the world works. The question I’d like to highlight this week is: After Mexico, which OECD country has the highest rate of teen births? a) ...

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

For those of you who don't subscribe to the bimonthly print edition of Foreign Policy, you're missing a great feature: the FP Quiz. It has eight intriguing questions about how the world works.

For those of you who don’t subscribe to the bimonthly print edition of Foreign Policy, you’re missing a great feature: the FP Quiz. It has eight intriguing questions about how the world works.

The question I’d like to highlight this week is:

After Mexico, which OECD country has the highest rate of teen births?

a) Czech Republic      b) Turkey       c) United States 

Answer after the jump …

Answer:

C, United States.

Of every 1,000 American females ages 15 to 19 in 2005, 49.8 had a baby, more than three times the OECD average of 15.5. Of the 30 OECD countries (which are mainly high-income Western countries), only Mexico, with 65.8 births per 1,000, was higher. Japan and South Korea had the lowest rates, both at just 3.7, according to the OECD.

And the high rate of U.S. teen births isn’t due to a lower abortion rate. The United States is a leader at 19.8 abortions per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19 in 2004, compared with, for example, Germany’s 2003 rate of 7.2 per 1,000, according to information compiled by the group Advocates for Youth.

Below are teen birthrates in each of the 30 OECD countries. (And for more questions about how the world works, check out the rest of the FP Quiz. )

Births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19, in 2005:

  • Mexico: 65.8
  • United States: 49.8
  • Turkey: 39.7
  • Britain: 24.8
  • New Zealand: 23.4
  • Hungary: 20.7
  • Slovakia: 20.0
  • Portugal: 18.1
  • Iceland: 16.9
  • OECD average: 15.5
  • Poland: 14.5
  • Australia: 14.3
  • Ireland: 13.5
  • Canada: 13.2
  • Austria: 12.3
  • Czech Republic: 11.4
  • Germany: 9.8
  • Finland: 9.7
  • Norway: 9.4
  • Spain: 9.1
  • Greece: 8.7
  • Luxembourg: 8.6
  • Belgium: 7.8
  • Italy: 6.8
  • Sweden: 6.8
  • France: 6.7
  • Denmark: 6.6
  • Netherlands: 4.7
  • Switzerland: 4.5
  • South Korea: 3.7
  • Japan: 3.7
Preeti Aroon was copy chief at Foreign Policy from 2009 to 2016 and was an FP assistant editor from 2007 to 2009. Twitter: @pjaroonFP

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