Early childbearing in Nicaragua: a continuing challenge.

(1) Among Nicaraguan women 20-24 years old, six in 10 had entered a union and almost half had had a child before their 20th birthday. (2) A quarter of all births in Nicaragua--35,000 per year--are to 15-19-year-olds. (3) Rural women, who have less education, on average, than their urban counterparts, are more likely than city dwellers to enter a union and become mothers during adolescence. (4) The proportion of 20-24-year-olds who had a child during adolescence is more than twice as high among the poorest as among those in the highest socioeconomic category. (5) Nearly half--45%--of births to adolescent women are unplanned, a level that varies little by women's urban-rural residence and their educational achievement. (6) Among all sexually active women aged 15-19 (in union and not in union), 86% do not want a child in the next two years, and 36% have an unmet need for effective contraception. Unmet need for family planning is equally high in urban and rural areas. (7) The strong link between low educational attainment and early motherhood suggests that improving educational opportunities for girls is a promising way of reducing high levels of adolescent childbearing in Nicaragua.