Milwaukee meets teen birth rate goal ahead of schedule

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett announced on Wednesday, October 23rd that the city's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative, led by United Way of Greater Milwaukee, has met and surpassed its goal.

"We have not only met our 2015 goal to reduce teen births in the city of Milwaukee by 46 percent, but we have exceeded it -- reducing teen births by 50 percent," said Mayor Barrett.

Credit for the drop is in part from ad campaigns that included a variety of provocative public service announcements -- both posted around the city and online.

For the sixth year in a row Milwaukee has recorded a decrease in the teen birth rate. City of Milwaukee Health Department data show that in 2012 there were 25.7 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 17, a decrease from 52.0 in 2006. The 2012 rate bested the 2015 goal of 30 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 17.

Compared to 2006, the 2012 birth rate for 15- to 17-year-olds in Milwaukee has dropped by 50 percent overall, by 47 percent for non-Hispanic Whites, by 55 percent for non-Hispanic Blacks, and by 56 percent for Hispanics.