Fox News Senior Medical Analyst Marc Siegel made some eyebrow-raising comments lamenting that birth rates are down among teenagers aged 15 to 19.

On Thursday, the National Center for Health Statistics reported that the U.S. fertility rate fell to another record low. The agency reported that the number of births per 1,000 women of childbearing age declined from 53.8 in 2024 to 53.1 last year. The latest figure represents a continuation of a decades-long decline in fertility rates.

Siegel joined Friday’s edition of America’s Newsroom, where Dana Perino said that while the continuing trend is not surprising, “the numbers might feel a little shocking.”

  • ɔiƚoxɘup@infosec.pub
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    3 hours ago

    Just makes us easier to subjugate.

    Teen moms are way more likely to drop out of school, which kind of snowballs into lower paying jobs, more financial stress, higher poverty rates, that whole thing. There are also real health risks involved, especially if she’s younger, stuff like preeclampsia and anemia are more common, and sadly maternal mortality is higher too. A lot of teen moms also end up pregnant again within a couple years, and depression and anxiety are pretty common outcomes as well.

    For the kid, preterm birth and low birth weight are more likely, and as they grow up there tend to be more developmental and behavioral challenges on average. One of the more striking stats is that daughters of teen moms are significantly more likely to become teen moms themselves, and that cycle is really hard to break.

    Dads kind of get left out of the research, but the data that exists shows they face a lot of the same economic and educational setbacks, and they’re less likely to stay involved with the child long term.

    • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      7 hours ago

      I am a little confused why everyone is forgetting that teens have sex with other teens. >.>

      It’s not creepy for an 18 year old to have sex with an 18 year old.

      • 🌞 Alexander Daychilde 🌞@lemmy.world
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        6 hours ago

        I didn’t forget, but it is old white men hyper about this, and considering how many old white men are creepy around teens, suddenly being interested in them getting pregnant is extremely creepy.

        Teens will always have sex, sure, although many fewer are as compared to previous decades. I’m not so worried about them.

        Also… do we REALLY want teens getting pregnant?

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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    9 hours ago

    WTAF. 15-19. That is some very weird shit.

    We need to go back to a well-funded, high-profile and concerted campaign of calling the right weird.

    Because they very much are.

    They are the party of the pedo-in-chief. Of Bannon. Of Stephen Miller. Of Peter Thiel. Of Musk. Of Curtis Yarvin. The authors of The Sovereign Individual and The Unhumans.

  • Smoogs@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    “Pedophilia has been trending downward since epstien files were mentioned…”

      • dipcart@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        Remember when they said that sex ed would increase teen pregnancies? And now they’re low enough, because of sex ed, that they have to tell kids how fun it is to fuck without condoms

  • Bazell@lemmy.zip
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    20 hours ago

    More teens became smart and self aware enough to not get pregnant in so young age by effectively using different types of contraception. And guy says that this is a bad thing. What? 🫪

    • dirthawker0@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      This is the same group that decries teen mothers who are Black as burdens on the system and trying to cheat welfare by having more babies because more babies means a bigger welfare check that they can spend on lobster, fur coats, and Cadillacs.

  • thethunderwolf@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    23 hours ago

    Nowhere in the US can 15 year olds legally consent to sex. The age of consent is 16, 17, or 18 depending on the state. This moron is literally supporting child rape.

  • Randelung@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    “We beat teen pregnancy!” - “Oh no!”

    Elaborated: “Oh no! Fewer poverty-locked consumer slaves! Who do we convince breast feeding is unhealthy and peddle formula to? How will we paint immigration as a bad thing if unemployment goes down? What if - heaven forbid - social mobility goes up?”

  • WanderWisley@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I have a female coworker and her daughter is currently eight months pregnant at 14 with a 17-year-old father. She couldn’t be happier. She is also a hardcore republican and a diehard Trump supporter.

    • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Ruin your kids life early that is the republican motto. Trap them in never ending wage slavery.

      • WanderWisley@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Yep exactly, it runs in her family. She was pregnant with her first baby at 15 and her husband was in his early 40’s. Her husband is older than her dad by 5 years. She is currently 41 and her husband is 73. She also has a younger sister like 5 years younger and I believe she basically did the same thing being pregnant at 15-16 with a much older man.

        • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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          1 day ago

          My wife has one branch of her family where 4 generations occured in a 60 year period, the 5 generation photos are pretty neat, and also I’m really happy for the last generation which broke the cycle.

    • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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      1 day ago

      I knew someone who was by her own description baby-crazy as a teen and basically seeked out someone to knock her up. Hormones are wild things sometimes. Her child did not repeat the cycle fortunately