Manifestations of poverty and birthrates among young teenagers in California zip code areas.

CONTEXT: Given that many communities are implementing community-wide initiatives to reduce teenage pregnancy or childbearing, it is important to understand the effects of a community's characteristics on adolescent birthrates.

METHODOLOGY: Data from the 1990 census and from California birth certificates were obtained for zip codes in California. Regression analyses were conducted on data from zip code areas with at least 200 females aged 15-17 between 1991 and 1996, to predict the effects of race and ethnicity marital status, education, employment, income and poverty, and housing on birthrates among young teenagers.

RESULTS: In bivariate analyses, the proportion of families living below poverty level within a zip code was highly related to the birthrate among young teenagers in that zip code (r=.80, p