Data on teenage conceptions in England and Wales published this week by the Office for National Statistics shows both the under-18 and under-16 conception rate are the lowest they have been for over 40 years.
In the face of official statistical evidence of a year-on-year decline in conception rates, even the most die hard naysayer of Labour’s teenage pregnancy strategy must have wavered in their relentless conviction that it would be responsible for encouraging young people to have reckless and unprotected sex earlier and earlier – or maybe not. Despite the intransigent vocal minority there is no doubt in my mind that the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy is one of the most effective interventions over the last couple of decades, pioneering a model that is replicable in other policy areas.
The Social Exclusion Unit published their report ‘Teenage Pregnancy’ in 1999. It set a target to reduce the number of teenage conceptions by 50 per cent over a ten-year period, and to provide care and support for those who did become young parents. It included an excellent analysis of the issues and recognised teenage pregnancy was ‘both a cause and consequence of social exclusion’, and that any attempts to reduce teenage pregnancy must include boys and young men as ’50 per cent of the problem and 50 per cent of the solution’.
The long-term vision and ambitious cross government action plan was underpinned by solid evidence, sufficient resource and high quality central leadership. The strategy quickly gained momentum at local level and there was a strong feeling of pride in being part of this ambitious strategy. The strategy was successful because it was so multi-faceted, requiring senior leadership and robust coordination. It recognised that health, education, the voluntary and community sector, housing and care all had a part to play. It was about changing attitudes. It was led with a spirit of inquiry and sought to learn and continually demonstrate through innovative use of data and evidence that ‘our disproportionately high teenage pregnancy rate was not inevitable and that social change was possible’.
A long-term vision was absolutely right – it was never going to be a quick fix strategy. Keeping a policy initiative alive and well across government for that long was inevitably tough at times, even more so now in a context of localism. But this latest data shows that bold strategic leadership, good investment in doing what the evidence shows works, combined with a committed and determined workforce and coordinated action has an impact.
In the face of public spending reductions and positive results local authorities must maintain focus and momentum. They cannot think the job is done and take their foot off the pedal. If we want to see continued decreases and sustained results we must invest in creating a culture that is positive about sex and sexuality, understand the impact of gendered stereotypes and expectations on young people’s choices about sex and relationships and continue to build on the learning from the ten-year strategy.
We must take practical action to improve sex and relationships education at home, in schools and the community for all children and young people, making personal, social and health education statutory in all schools is a must. We must undertake targeted work with groups of young people who may be at greater risk of pregnancy such as looked after children; and provide specialist contraceptive and abortion service that young people feel confident about and are able to access. Most of all we must recognise that helping young people to make active choices about their sexual choices requires us to trust, educate and inspire all young people.
The evidence from the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy tells us that if we do all these things well, then we will continue to see declines in our teenage conception rates, which will in a few more years finally bring us much more in line with our Scandinavian neighbours.
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Simon Blake is chief executive of Brook, the UK’s largest young people’s sexual health charity
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