Although births to girls between 15-19 years of age has been declining in the United States, our teen birth rate remains up to nine times higher than in most other developed nations, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

The U.S. rate of 39.4 births per thousand girls tops the other countries, with the exception of Bulgaria, whose rate is 42.The Netherlands is the lowest, with a rate of four births per thousand girls; Japan and Italy are next with five; France, seven; Germany and Sweden, eight; Norway, nine; Canada, 13; Israel, 14; Ireland, 16; United Kingdom, 24; Romania, 31, and Turkey, 39.Factors generally associated with teen pregnancy and childbearing include being sexually active; lacking access to contraception, or not learning how to properly use it; poverty; having poorly educated parents; not doing well in school, and growing up in a single-parent family, according to the CDC.