The national Conservative party have got themselves into hot water by saying that the teenage pregancy rate in Britain is ten times higher than it actually is. According to the Times:
Pregnancy advice groups and child welfare organisations condemned the Conservatives today over their mistaken assertion that more than half of all girls in deprived areas fall pregnant before the age of 18.
.
The claim ? ten times the true number ? is made repeatedly in a campaigning document entitled Labour’s Two Nations, released alongside a new poster campaign launched by David Cameron today that criticises Labour for failing the poor.
.
The proportion of young girls who become pregnant in the UK’s ten poorest areas is in fact 5.4 per cent.
.
…. The Two Nations document claims: “In the most deprived areas, 54 per cent are likely to fall pregnant before the age of 18, compared to just 19 per cent in the least deprived areas.” .
So the ACTUAL figures are 5.4 percent in the most deprived parts of Britain and 1.9 percent in the least deprived.
In case you are wondering, the figures for Rochford District are towards the bottom end – 2.75 percent. (The figure for Southend is 4.17 percent, Basildon 4.08 percent and Castle Point 3.44 percent).
A couple of thoughts: