Contraceptive Use by Women Aged 15 to 49, 2015–17

The most common type of contraceptive used by American women is sterilization, according to the federal government's 2015–17 National Survey of Family Growth. The survey asks women about the type of contraceptive they used during the month of the survey interview. Here is the distribution of women aged 15 to 49 by contraceptive use...

Total using contraception: 65%
19% use female sterilization
13% use oral contraceptive pill
  9% use condoms
  8% use long-acting reversible intrauterine device
  6% use male sterilization
  5% use periodic abstinence or withdrawal
  2% use long-acting reversible contraceptive implant
  2% use 3-month injectable (Depo-Provera)
  1% use contraceptive ring or patch

Total not using contraception: 35%
10% never had sexual intercourse
  8% are taking their chances
  7% did not have intercourse in the three months before the interview
  4% are trying to become pregnant
  4% are pregnant or postpartum
  3% are noncontraceptively sterile (female or male)

Only 8 percent of women aged 15 to 49 are sexually active and not using any form of contraception.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Current Contraceptive Status among Women Aged 15-49: United States, 2015–2017

Birth Control and Health Insurance Coverage

Women with health insurance are much more likely to use birth control consistently than those without health insurance, according to an Urban Institute study. Among women aged 18 to 44 at risk of an unplanned pregnancy, 73 percent of those with health insurance coverage say they always use birth control. Among their counterparts without health insurance, a much smaller 42 percent always use it.

There are differences in consistent birth control use by income as well. Among women with family incomes at or above 400 percent of poverty level, 82 percent always use birth control versus just 53 percent of women with family incomes below 138 percent of poverty level.

These findings raise concerns about the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act, says the Urban Institute: "Repealing the ACA could increase financial barriers to contraception by increasing the number of uninsured women—particularly low-income women."

Source: Urban Institute, Access to Contraception in 2016 and What It Means to Women

ACA = Fewer Abortions

Expect 25,000 fewer abortions per year because of the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act, according to a study by Karen Mulligan in the journal Demography. 

Although 30 states had already mandated contraceptive coverage in health insurance plans, 20 states were straggling until the ACA kicked in. By extending access to contraception without co-pay to women in all 50 states, according to Mulligan's analysis, birth control use increases by 2.1 percent and the abortion rate declines by 3 percent. The result is fewer abortions.

Source: Demography, Contraceptive Use, Abortions, and Births: The Effect of Insurance Mandates ($39.95)

Decline in Teen Sexual Activity

Today's teenagers are not as sexually active as teens were a decade or two ago. That explains, in part, why the birth rate of 15-to-19-year-olds fell 57 percent between 1991 (the peak year) and 2013. Among never-married females aged 15 to 19, the percentage who have ever had sexual intercourse fell from 51 percent in 1988 to 44 percent in 2011-13. Among their male counterparts, the figure fell from 60 to 47 percent.

Another reason for the decline in the teen birth rate is the increased use of emergency contraception. Twenty-two percent of sexually active 15-to-19-year-old females in 2011-13 had ever used emergency contraception, up from only 8 percent who had ever used it in 2002.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing of Teenagers Aged 15-19 in the United States

Who Uses Birth Control?

American women aren't fooling around. Their use of contraception is nearly universal. Overall, 62 percent of women aged 15 to 44 are currently using contraception, but that figure is deceivingly low. It includes women who don't use birth control because they aren't having sex, and it includes women who are trying to get pregnant, are pregnant, or just had a baby.

In fact, only 6.9 percent of women aged 15 to 44 aren't using contraceptives and should be using them because they're sexually active and don't want to become pregnant. That means fully 93.1 percent of American women have taken control of their fertility, which may explain why the fertility rate is at a record low.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Current Contraceptive Status among Women Aged 15-44: United States, 2011-2013

Attitudes toward Birth Control Coverage

Overall, the 55 percent majority of Americans think private companies "should be required to cover birth control in their workers' health plans, even if it violates their owners' personal religious beliefs," according to a Kaiser Poll. Fully 61 percent of women say birth control should be covered versus a smaller 50 percent of men. By age, here is the percentage who say birth control coverage should be required...

Aged 18 to 29: 64%
Aged 30 to 49: 58%
Aged 50 to 64: 55%
Aged 65-plus: 41%

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: April 2014

Teen Birth Rate Plunges

If you think teenagers aren't paying attention to current events, these findings may change your mind. Between 2007 and 2011, the birth rate of the nation's 15-to-19-year-olds fell by a stunning 25 percent, to a record low of 31.3 births per 1,000 women in the age group. Shocked by the Great Recession, sexually active teens became more vigilant about using birth control.

Between 2007 and 2011, the birth rate of Hispanic teenagers fell 34 percent, more than the 24 percent decline for blacks and the 20 percent decline for non-Hispanic whites. The birth rate of Hispanic teens fell by 60 percent in Mississippi and by at least 50 percent in Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Declines in State Teen Birth Rates by Race and Hispanic Origin

Birth Control and Religion

Percentage of women aged 15 to 44 who have ever used birth control by religious affiliation...

No affiliation: 99.4%
Catholic: 98.6%
Fundamentalist Protestant : 99.4%
Other Protestant: 99.5%

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Survey of Family Growth, Contraceptive Methods Women Have Ever Used: United States, 1982-2010

Emergency Contraception

More than 1 in 10 women aged 15 to 44 has used emergency contraception, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. First approved by the FDA in 1998, at least four brands of emergency contraceptive pills are now available over-the-counter to prevent pregnancy after sexual intercourse. When women are asked why they used an emergency contraceptive, 45 percent cited birth control method failure and 49 percent blamed it on unprotected sex.

The percentage of women aged 15 to 44 who have ever used emergency contraception nearly tripled between 2002 and 2006-2010, rising from 4 to 11 percent. By age, ever-use peaks at 23 percent among women aged 20 to 24.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Survey of Family Growth, Use of Emergency Contraception among Women Aged 15-44, 2006-2010

Contraceptives Ever Used

You rarely see a number like this in survey results: 99 percent.

That number is the percentage of women aged 15 to 44 who have ever used birth control, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. By type of contraceptive, these are the birth control methods ever used by at least 10 percent of women and the percentage who have ever used them...

Condom: 93.4%
Birth control pill: 81.9%
Withdrawal: 59.6%
3-month injectable (Depo-Provera): 23.2%
Female sterilization: 19.5%
Periodic abstinence, calendar rhythm: 18.1%
Male sterilization: 13.3%
Emergency contraception: 10.8%
Contraceptive patch: 10.4%

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, National Survey of Family Growth, Contraceptive Methods Women Have Ever Used: United States, 1982-2010