Teenage pregnancies are steadily declining in WV

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HURRICANE, W.Va. (WBOY) — New data from the 2024 Kids Count Data Book shows West Virginia still lags behind in overall child well-being, but Mission West Virginia said in a press release that the state has shown an improvement in the overall well-being of children. several metrics.

In a press release, Mission WV highlighted the continued decline in teen pregnancies in West Virginia – 5.5% last year and 56.8% since 2007. Reproductive Health Education Program staff of Mission WV, called THINK, believes better access to education and health services is needed. partly responsible for the downward trend.

“We know that when young people live in communities where sex education and reproductive health care are widely available, they make informed decisions about their sexual health,” program director Jill Gwilt said in the release. of Mission WV. “We are thrilled to see such positive results from educators, schools and health care entities working together to ensure our state’s youth have every opportunity to receive data-driven sexual health education conclusive.

Although the new report showed positive development for West Virginia in some regions, overall West Virginia fell in the rankings, falling from 42nd in overall child well-being in 2023 to 44th in 2024.

In economic well-being, West Virginia moved from 36th in 2023 to 47th in 2024. This change is likely due to the increase in the number of children living in poverty, from 73,000 in the report from 2023 to 86,000 in the 2024 report.

Health was the only one of five metrics in which West Virginia improved last year, moving from 39th to 35th.