Pregnancy can derail a young woman's life, preventing her from furthering her education or growing up to be self-sufficient. Babies born to teen mothers are at higher risk of having a low birth weight and of infant mortality compared to babies born to older mothers. They are also at risk of lower cognitive development, poor educational outcomes and living in poverty.

In 2016, the teen birth rate was 33 per 1,000 in Arkansas, making the state 50th in the nation for this indicator. The rate has fallen 44% since 2007 but is still higher than the national rate of 20 per 1,000. The rate was higher among black (41) and Hispanic (39) teens than among white teens (32). However, rates have declined the most among Hispanic and black teens, falling 66% and 51% since 2006, respectively.

Within Arkansas, teen birth rates ranged from less than 20 per 1,000 in Clark, Saline, Cleveland and Columbia counties to more than 60 per 1,000 in Nevada, Arkansas, Mississippi, Randolph, Sevier and Jackson counties in 2016.

Rates do not represent a unique count of births as a female may have more than one pregnancy within a given year. Due to data availability, Arkansas-level data is reported for 2016, while data for Bowie County and state and national comparison data is reported for 2015.