Teen pregnancy rate falls 42.6 percent after UK cuts sex-ed, birth-control funding: study

lifesitenews.com

A new study indicates that teen pregnancy rates drop when liberal sex-ed funding is cut, the UK’s Catholic Herald reported.

The Effect of Spending Cuts on Teen Pregnancy" analyzed data in England before and after contraceptive-based sex-ed expenditures were slashed -- cuts that were criticized by liberals and praised by Christians  

Researchers David Paton of Nottingham University Business School and Liam Wright of the School of Health and Related Research at the University of Sheffield led the study, published in The Journal of Health Economics.  

England has been forced to make severe cuts in recent years to its budget, including tax funds for sex-ed in schools and free birth control.

The study sought to "examine the impact of reductions in local expenditure on one particular public health target: reducing rates of teen pregnancy."

The Paton and Wright research team used statistics from 149 municipalities between 2009 and 2014 and found that after sex-ed budgets were cut, teen pregnancy rates fell by 42.6 percent.

The researchers discovered that taking away tax funding for contraceptive-focused sex education in schools actually reduced teen pregnancy.

"Contrary to predictions made at the time of the cuts, panel data estimates provide no evidence that areas which reduced expenditure the most have experienced relative increases in teenage pregnancy rates. Rather, expenditure cuts are associated with small reductions in teen pregnancy rates," they noted.

With the government cuts in sex-ed funding, teen pregnancies in England have fallen to their lowest level since 1969, according to the new study. In fact, the statistics show teen pregnancy rates diminished the most in those areas where secular sex-ed budgets were most aggressively cut.