According to the health officials on Monday, births by teen girls dropped a record low in California in 2008.

In 2008, the figures show the rate of births among teen mothers was 35.2 for every 1,000 females aged 15 to 19, which were down from 37.1 in comparison to the previous year. In 2008, teen mothers gave birth to 2,285 babies.

The Department of Public Health revealed that the fall in the rate of teen births in 2007 and 2008 saved $98 million. Health officials explained that teenage motherhood increases the costs to society, which includes higher medical costs, public assistance costs and costs for foster placement as mothers requires the financial resources to raise a child. Also, babies born to teen mothers are at higher risk due to premature births.

"California has consistently included abstinence education in its approach but that has not been the sole strategy that the state has employed", said Ken August, a spokesman for the state's Public Health Department.

In past few years, birth rates have decreased among youngsters and older teens. California used to have higher number of teenage birth rate, but the number has declined gradually since 1991.