The decline in teenage pregnancies in England and Wales has reversed, with rising rates observed for two consecutive years. This trend may stem from pandemic-related issues affecting statistics. The UK ranks low among EU countries in teenage pregnancy rates and fails to keep pace with nations showing more rapid declines. The legacy of previous social programs initiated by Labour in 1997 demonstrated proactive measures, yet these were weakened during Tory governance. The focus on social exclusion and deprivation was crucial for making progress on issues like teenage pregnancy at a time deemed complex for government intervention.
The UK now has the 22nd-lowest teenage pregnancy rate out of the 27 EU countries and many of these countries' rates are falling faster.
As soon as Labour came to power in 1997, it founded the social exclusion unit, with 18 taskforces pursuing the causes of deprivation.
Had New Labour's remarkable programmes around social exclusion been doing their work through these wasted Tory years, we may no longer be such a social laggard.
In 1997, halving teenage pregnancies was regarded as one of the hardest targets; that type of deeply complex social behaviour seemed beyond the reach of the state.
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