Among women aged 22–49 years who have ever had sexual intercourse, 24.3% have ever used emergency contraception.
The percentage of women who have ever used emergency contraception increased with education level, from 12.6% among women without a high school diploma or GED to 27.9% among women with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Source: National Survey of Family Growth, 2017–2019. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/index.htm
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Questions for Kim Daniels, Health Statistician and Lead Author of “Current Contraceptive Status Among Women Aged 15–49: United States, 2017–2019.”
Q: Why does the CDC collect information on contraceptive use?
KD: Collecting information on contraceptive use from women and men of reproductive age helps inform our understanding of variation in use across groups such as by age and education. Information on contraceptive use offers potential insight into larger fertility patterns, including birth rates and incidence of unintended pregnancies. The chance that a woman not seeking a pregnancy will have an unintended pregnancy varies by whether any method of contraception is used and which method or methods she and her partner use.
Q: Was there a specific finding in the data that surprised you from this report?
KD: This report provides a snapshot of current contraceptive status among women ages 15-49 based on data from the 2017-2019 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). It describes contraceptive use and non-use during the month of interview and includes further detail on specific methods being used and reasons for non-use of contraception. Differences in the most common methods currently used (female sterilization, oral contraceptive pill, long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), and the male condom) are shown by age, Hispanic origin and race, and education.
It may not count as surprising, but some of the overall percentages for specific types of methods being used are interesting. If you look at contraceptive status among all women (shown in Figure 2), 18.1% of all women aged 15-49 are relying on female sterilization, 14.0% on the oral contraceptive pill, 10.4% on LARCs, and 8.4% on male condoms. Taken together that accounts for about half of women in this age range (about 37 million of the 72.7 million women aged 15-49).
Some of the differences in current contraceptive use, by age, Hispanic origin and race, and education may be surprising. For example, there are differences by education in the use of female sterilization, the oral contraceptive pill, and LARCs, but there are no statistically significant differences seen by education in the use of male condoms, as reported by women.
Q: How did you obtain this data for this report?
KD: This report is based on data from the 6,141 women in the female respondent file of the 2017-2019 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). The NSFG is a nationally representative sample of women and men ages 15-49 conducted using in-person interviews. The 2017-2019 NSFG public-use data files are being released on the same day as this report. Information about the survey, including how data were collected, as well as the downloadable data files and documentation, are available on the NSFG website here: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/index.htm
Q: Is there any trend data for this report?
KD: This report does not include any information about trends in contraceptive use. However, since it is an update of a report published in 2018 using NSFG data from 2015-2017, comparisons can be made between the estimates in this report and those from the 2018 report. The 2018 report using 2015-2017 NSFG data is available on the NCHS webpage here: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db327-h.pdf
Q: Where can I find more NSFG data?
KD: All NSFG data files, including the 2017-2019 public-use files, released on the same day as this report’s publication, are available to download from the NSFG website here:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/index.htm
The NSFG website also includes information about the survey, including how data were collected, as well as documentation about the survey methodology and how to analyze the data. Also on our website are reports published from data files released prior to this, which show statistics for contraceptive use and many other topics included in the NSFG.
Those previously published NSFG reports are available on this page:
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/nsfg_products.htm
This report is the first to be released with this data from 2017-2019.
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Questions for Gladys Martinez, Health Statistician and Lead Author of “Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use Among Teenagers Aged 15-19 in the United States, 2015-2017.”
Q: Why does NCHS conduct studies on sexual activity and contraception?
GM: We conduct studies on sexual activity and contraceptive use to better understand the risk for sexually transmitted diseases, birth and pregnancy rates, and differences between groups in the U.S. reproductive age population.
For this report they are crucial for understanding differences in the risk of teen pregnancy and to put into context recent declines in the U.S. teen birth rate.
Q: Can you summarize how the data varied by sex and age groups?
GM: There has been a decline in the percentage of male and female teens who ever had sex from 1988 to 2017. But the percentage of male teens who ever had sex continues to decline in most recent time period 2011-2015 to 2015-2017, but has remained the same for female teens.
Male and female had similar:
Q: Was there a specific finding in the data that surprised you from this report?
GM: For the first time since we have been collecting these data, the cumulative probabilities of having had sex by each age in the teen years were similar for young males and females.
Ever use of implant is 15% which is an increase from 2011-2015 when it was only 3%.
Q: How did you obtain this data for this report?
GM: Data for this report are from the 2015-2017 National Survey of Family Growth, a nationally representative in-person survey of men and women aged 15-49 in the United States.
Q: Do you have older data that is comparable beyond 2002?
GM: Yes, we have been tracking these data since the 1970s and the earliest published NSFG report shows data from 1988.
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Posted by briantsai
Using data from the 2015–2017 National Survey of Family Growth, a new NCHS report provides a snapshot of current contraceptive status, in the month of interview, among women aged 15–49 in the United States.
In addition to describing use of any method by age, Hispanic origin and race, and education, patterns of use are described for the four most commonly used contraceptive methods: female sterilization; oral contraceptive pill; long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs), which include contraceptive implants and intrauterine devices; and male condom.
Key Findings:
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Questions for Kimberly Daniels, Ph.D., Statistician and Lead Author of “Urban and Rural Variation in Fertility-related Behavior Among U.S. Women, 2011–2015.”
Q: Why did you decide to examine fertility-related behavior among U.S. women in urban and rural areas?
KD: We decided to examine fertility-related behavior among U.S. women based on urban and rural residence because while there are many National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) reports on fertility, they do not usually include information about place of residence. Two NCHS reports were recently published that use Vital Statistics data from birth certificates and focus on urban and rural differences.
One of those reports was on urban and rural differences in infant mortality rates and the other on urban and rural differences in teen birth rates. After seeing the differences shown in those reports, we decided to work on an NSFG report focusing on fertility-related behavior and place of residence.
Q: Are there any findings among the urban-rural differences that surprised you?
KD: As far as what findings in this report surprised me, based on other publications we reviewed before starting this report I expected that the percentage of currently married women would be higher in rural areas compared with urban areas. The results in this report showed that the percentage of women who were currently married in each area was similar, around 40%. I also expected that there would be a difference for cohabitation; although I am not sure which group I expected would be higher.
The results for age at first sexual intercourse may be surprising to readers of the report. This report uses data from women ages 18-44. Place of residence is measured at the time of interview. Among adult women who have ever had sex, the average age at first sexual intercourse was lower for women living in rural areas, 16.6 years on average, compared with 17.4 for women living in urban areas.
Q: Do you have any older trend data to this report from the National Survey of Family Growth for urban and rural fertility-related behavior?
KD: As far as trends over time, we do not show trend data in this report on urban and rural variation in fertility-related behavior. Some older NSFG reports do include that information, such as this one on fertility, family planning, and reproductive health using 2002 data. The variable that classifies women as living in an urban or rural area is available on our public use datasets. It is available to download from our website so researchers could examine time trends or differences in other topical areas by place of residence.
Q: What did your report find on contraceptive use among women in urban and rural areas?
KD: The report looked at contraceptive method use at last sexual intercourse among women ages 18-44 who had sex in the last 12 months. Contraceptive methods were grouped into four categories based on effectiveness at preventing pregnancy; no method, a less effective method, a moderately effective method, and a most effective method. The results showed that similar percentages of women in urban and rural areas used no method of contraception, 21.0%. A higher percentage of women in urban areas used a less effective method, such as a condom, compared with women in rural areas. A higher percentage of women in urban areas also used a moderately effective method, such as the oral contraceptive pill, compared with women in rural areas. A higher percentage of women in rural areas used one of the most effective methods of contraception such as a sterilizing operation or an intrauterine device compared with women in urban areas.
As we note in the report, the percentages we show for contraceptive use and the other measures do not account for other factors that could play a role. For example, the figure that describes differences in number of births shows that women in rural areas are more likely to have had any births and have a higher average number births. So, some of the differences in contraceptive use across the two groups could be related to differences in plans for future childbearing.
Q: What is the take home message of this report?
KD: The takeaway messages are shown in the key findings and summary in the report. Among women aged 18-44, on average, women living in rural areas had their first sexual intercourse at younger ages than women living in urban areas. Similar percentages of women in urban and rural areas were currently married, cohabiting, or never married. A higher percentage of women living in rural areas were formerly married compared with women in urban areas. Women living in rural areas were more likely than women living in urban areas to have had any births and had a higher average number of births. Among women aged 18–44 who had sexual intercourse in the past year, a higher percentage of women living in rural areas used one of the most effective methods of contraception at their last intercourse compared with women in urban areas. It is important to remember that place of residence was measured at the time of interview.
Some of the outcomes in the report occurred when the woman lived in another geographic location. Also, as I mentioned above the results do not account for other factors that could play a role in the urban and rural differences presented in the
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Among women aged 15–44 years who used oral contraceptive pills in the last 4 weeks and had sexual intercourse in the past 12 months, 69% of women reported missing no pills, 15% missed one pill, and 16% missed two or more pills.
Across the two age groups (15–24 years and 25–44 years), similar percentages of women aged 15–24 years reported missing no pills (67%) compared with women aged 25–44 years (70%).
Similar percentages of women aged 15–24 years reported missing one pill (12%) compared with women aged 25–44 years (17%).
A higher percentage of women aged 15–24 years (21%) reported missing two or more pills compared with women aged 25–44 years (13%).
Source: National Survey of Family Growth, 2013–2015. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nsfg/index.htm
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6636a10.htm?s_cid=mm6636a10_e
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Questions for Kimberly Daniels, Ph.D., Statistician and Lead Author of “Unmarried Men’s Contraceptive Use at Recent Sexual Intercourse, United States 2011-2015”
Q: Why did you decide to examine contraceptive use among unmarried men?
KD: There were a number of motivations to conduct this study on contraceptive use among unmarried men. Most, but not all, of the reports published at NCHS on contraceptive use are based on data from women. We wanted to use the data from men to showcase their first-hand reports, especially for the male methods (condoms, withdrawal and vasectomy). We wanted to focus on men who are not married given the role of contraception in preventing unintended pregnancies and the higher risk for unintended pregnancy among unmarried men. Also, about half of new sexually transmitted infections (STI) occur among people ages 15-24. Most people in that age range are unmarried. Contraception is also used to help prevent STIs.
Q: What were the main findings of your report?
KD: There are a few key findings in this study on contraception.The report describes contraceptive method use at last recent sexual intercourse (within 3 months before the interview). A lot of the focus in this report is on describing variation in use of “male methods” of contraception, those that require action on the part of the male partner. These include condoms, withdrawal, and vasectomy. In 2011-2015, about 60% of unmarried men reported using a male method of contraception at last recent sexual intercourse. Higher percentages of men in younger age groups reported using any method of contraception, any male method of contraception, condoms, and withdrawal compared with older unmarried men.
We also presented differences based on marital or cohabiting status at the time of interview among unmarried men. The categories presented include currently cohabiting (regardless of former marital experience), formerly married, and never married. The percentage of men using any method, any male method, and the male condom was highest for never-married men, followed by formerly married, and currently cohabiting men. Use of withdrawal was higher among never-married men (23.0%) compared with formerly married (16.3%) and cohabiting (13.0%) men.
Q: Was there a finding in your new study that surprised you? If so, why?
KD: I was surprised to see the change over time in the use of withdrawal as a contraception method among unmarried men. A lot of recent discussion about contraception focuses on contraceptive implants and intrauterine devices (referred to together as long-acting reversible contraception). Withdrawal is not the focus of as much current research as those methods are. In this report, use of withdrawal at last recent sexual intercourse among unmarried men nearly doubled from 9.8% in 2002 to 18.8% in 2011-2015. That means that in the most recent data, about 1 in 5 unmarried men aged 15-44 reported using withdrawal at last sex.
Q: What differences did you see among race and ethnic groups, and between different ages?
KD: We observed a few differences among various groups of unmarried men and their use of contraception. One of the differences by both age and Hispanic origin and race was in the use of condoms at last recent sexual intercourse. Among unmarried men, higher percentages of younger men used condoms compared to older men. A higher percentage of non-Hispanic Black men (54.3%) used condoms at last sexual intercourse compared with non-Hispanic white (44.2%) and Hispanic (42.1%) men.
Q: What is the take-home message of this report?
KD: With this study, I think the take-home message is found right in its key findings. For example, I think some of the key findings from this report–the increase over roughly the last decade in the use of withdrawal among unmarried men and the higher use of condoms among younger and non-Hispanic, Black men–remind us why updating descriptions of contraceptive use is important. Certainly there is a substantial amount of ongoing research about condoms since they are used to help prevent STIs in addition to their use for contraception (including an NCHS report earlier this month also based on National Survey of Family Growth data, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr105.pdf). This report offers a new look at unmarried mens’ use of contraception, and provides updated descriptions of contraceptive use, mainly of male methods, based on first-hand reports from men.
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Questions for Casey Copen, Ph.D., M.P.H., Statistician and Author of “Condom use during sexual intercourse among women and men aged 15-44 in the United States: 2011-2015 National Survey of Family Growth”
Q: Why did you decide to examine condom use in this report?
CC: There are about 20 million new sexually transmitted infections (STI) in the United States each year. These infections can lead to long-term health consequences, such as infertility. Condoms can provide protection against most STIs but are often used incorrectly and inconsistently. Similarly, condoms can reduce the risk of pregnancy but have one of the highest rates of contraceptive failure of any contraceptive method.
The purpose of this report was to examine recent trends in condom use during vaginal (sexual) intercourse and measure the prevalence of condom use, alone or in combination with another contraceptive method. This information can be used to plan health services and educational programs in the U.S.
Q: Has the data in this report been previously published?
CC: Data on condom use has been collected for women since 1973 and for men, since 2002. Starting in 2013, questions on problems with condom use were asked of women aged 15-44 who used a condom during intercourse in the past 4 weeks. Periodically, the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) publishes reports on current contraceptive use, which includes condoms, to measure how contraceptive use among women has changed over time.
Last month, NSFG released a report on contraceptive use among female and male teens aged 15-19 that included information on condom use at first and most recent intercourse (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr104.pdf). However, the data on condom use problems have not been previously published.
Q: What do you think were the main findings of your report?
CC: In 2011-2015, 23.8% of women and 33.7% of men aged 15–44 used a condom at last sexual intercourse in the past 12 months. Among condom users aged 15-44, the majority of women and men used only a condom and no other method during last intercourse in the past 12 months (59.9% of women and 56.4% of men); another 25.0% of women and 33.2% of men used condoms plus hormonal methods; and 15.1% of women and 10.5% of men used condoms plus non-hormonal methods. Almost 7% of women aged 15–44 who used a condom in the past four weeks said the condom broke or completely fell off during intercourse or withdrawal and 25.8% said the condom was used for only part of the time during intercourse.
Q: How has the percentage of condom use in the U.S. during sexual intercourse changed since 2002?
CC: The percentages of women aged 15-44 who used condoms at last sexual intercourse in the past 12 months were similar from 2002 to 2011-2015, but for men aged 15–44, the percentages increased from 29.5% in 2002 to 33.7% in 2011–2015. Percentages of female and male condom users aged 15–44 who used condoms only at last intercourse in the past 12 months decreased from 67.9% of women and 63.0% of men in 2002 to 59.9% and 56.4% in 2011-2015. Alongside this decline, percentages of female condom users aged 15–44 who used condoms plus non-hormonal methods at last intercourse increased from 11.9% in 2006–2010 to 15.1% in 2011–2015.
Q: What is the take-home message of your report?
CC: This report showed that the majority of women and men aged 15-44 in each NSFG survey period did not use a condom at all during last sexual intercourse. It is important to note that there are many factors associated with condom nonuse, such as being in a monogamous relationship, using hormonal or other methods to prevent pregnancy or trying to get pregnant. Although this report could not address each of these factors directly, these findings indicate there are differences in condom use by age, education, Hispanic origin and race, relationship at last sexual intercourse and number of sexual partners in the past 12 months. About one-quarter of women aged 15-44 who used a condom during intercourse in the past 4 weeks reported that the condom was used for only part of the time during intercourse (25.8%), suggesting that condoms are often used inconsistently.
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Questions for Joyce Abma, Ph.D., Social Scientist and Lead Author on “Sexual Activity and Contraceptive Use Among Teenagers in the United States: 2011-2015”
Q: Is the bottom line here in this study that teens are less sexually active than in the past?
JA: Yes. Although this has changed very gradually, fewer teens have ever had sex than was the case three decades ago. In the late 1980s, just over half of female teens and 61% of male teens had had sex, and the most recent data through 2015 show this percent is well under half: 42% for females and 44% for males.- So males have had a particularly large decrease in the percent who have ever had sex during the teen years.
Over the past 3 decades, since 1988, the percent of teens who had ever had sex has been declining gradually. (decreasing from over half – 51% for females and 60% for males, to under half – 42% for females and 44% for males in 2011-15). Since 2002, however, the decline slowed and there has been no significant change for female or male teens. And this plateau continued through the most recent time period, 2011-2015.
Q: Are the teens of today also more likely to use contraception than past generations?
JA: Yes. Although even about 3 decades ago, in the late 1980s, contraceptive use was common among teens – for example 84% of males used a method at last sex in 1988 – they have become increasingly more likely since then. In the most recent data, 2011-2015, 95% of males used a contraceptive method at last sex. Related to this increase among females is another big change across the time period: the development and availability of a wider variety of contraceptives for females. These include Depo-Provera injectable, implants, emergency contraception, the patch, and more recently, the IUD has been re-designed and recommended for teens. These newer hormonal methods are starting to be used more commonly, but use of the pill remains common as well among female teens.
Q: With such a sensitive topic, do you meet with a lot of resistance in trying to collect this data?
JA: Actually, the response rate for the survey is 70%, meaning of the people eligible for the survey, 70% agree to participate and complete it. Generally, people recognize the importance, validity and value of the survey. Those who participate tend to find it an interesting and positive experience. And many topics are covered, including some questions about education, health services, attitudes and opinions, questions about children, and relationships.
Q: Do these findings include teens with same-sex partners?
JA: No, this report covers only sexual intercourse with opposite-sex partners. The purpose of the report is primarily to understand risk behaviors for pregnancy among teens, thus the focus is only on opposite sex sexual activity.
Q: Any other important points of note?
JA: There are several interesting findings in this report, both in terms of sexual activity as well as contraceptive use among teens. For example, teens who had not yet had sex – which is over half of all teens — were asked to identify the main reason they hadn’t yet had sex, from 5 possible reasons. Female and male teens were very similar in the reasons they chose. Female and male teens both chose “against religion or morals”, followed by “don’t want to get (a female) pregnant”, and “haven’t found the right person yet” as the most common reasons. So female and male teens seem to be thinking along the same lines when considering the issue of not being sexually active.
As for contraceptive use, recently the IUD and contraceptive implants have been re-designed and are recommended by reproductive health professionals for teens to reduce the chances of pregnancy. These methods, referred to as “LARC” – for “long-acting reversible contraception”– are important because they offer protection for multiple years, they don’t require regular action on the part of the teen, and their failure rates are extremely low. These methods are still relatively rarely used among teens but are being used more often: 6% of teens had ever used either of these two methods as of the 2011-15 data.
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Posted by Kim Rodriguez
A new NCHS report describes current contraceptive use among women of childbearing age (ages 15–44) during 2011–2013. Current contraceptive use is defined as use during the month of interview, not for a specific act of sexual intercourse.
This report’s primary focus is describing patterns of contraceptive use among women who are currently using contraception, by social and demographic characteristics. Data from 2002 and 2006–2010 are presented for comparison.
Key Findings from the Report:
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