Teen pregnancy rates plunge as youngsters are too busy sexting to get together in person
Experts say they spend so much time flirting online and sending raunchy social media messages on Facebook and Snapchat they have fewer meetings for romps
TEENAGE pregnancies have fallen to a record low because youngsters are too busy sexting to have sex in person.
Experts say they spend so much time flirting online and sending raunchy social media messages on Facebook and Snapchat they have fewer meetings for romps.
The rate of pregnancies among girls under 18 in England and Wales has dropped by 45 per cent since 2007 — the year iPhones hit the UK.
It stands at the lowest level since records began almost 50 years ago.
Professor David Paton, an economist at Nottingham University Business School said: “Teens spend more time at home.
“Rather than sitting at bus stops with friends and a bottle of vodka they chat remotely.”
Earlier this year new ONS figures showed there were 23 conceptions per 1,000 15 to 17 year olds in 2014, compared to a high of 55 in 1971.
The estimated number of conceptions to girls under 18 fell to 22,653 in 2014 compared with 24,306 in 2013, a 6.8 per cent dip.
A report published this week in Bolton, Gtr Manchester, showed officials have seen a 52 per cent reduction in pregnancies among under-18s, with teenage conceptions falling from 50.3 in 1998 to 23.8 in 2015 per 1000 women.
In 1998 there were 249 teenage conceptions in Bolton, Gtr Manchester, and latest figures show that this has fallen to 125 teenage conceptions last year.
Better access to contraception is also believed to be a factor in the decline.