According to new statistics the city has recorded the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in Scotland. The city, which is part of the NHS Tayside area, had the worst teenage pregnancy rate in Scotland with 18.5 per 1000 13 to 15-year-old girls.
In the under 15 to 17 age group it had a rate of 73.7 pregnancies per 1000, while it had 73.8 pregnancies per 1000 17 to 19-year-old girls, once again giving it the highest rate in Scotland. The latest statistics, for 2007 to 2009, once again give the fourth largest city in Scotland the unwanted title.
The figures, released by the Information Services Division of NHS Scotland on Tuesday, noted that poverty is linked to the numbers of young pregnancies as “the rates of teenage pregnancy in deprived areas more than treble those of the least deprived areas".
Although there are considerably more teenage pregnancies in larger cities like Glasgow and Edinburgh, the smaller population of Dundee, coupled with its high number of young expectant mothers, has given it a higher rate. Dundee has had one of the worst teenage pregnancy rates since the statistics were first recorded in 1994.
The East Renfrewshire Council area, which includes the Glasgow suburbs of Newton Mearns and Clarkston, had the lowest teenage pregnancy rate in mainland Scotland for the same period.