Family planning perspectives
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A relatively new multivariate life-table technique has permitted the effect of socioeconomic characteristics on first-year contraceptive failure rates to be determined to a greater degree of precision than was possible in the past. This technique is employed in this article to determine the one-year rates of contraceptive discontinuation among currently married U. S. women, using data from the 1973 and 1976 National Surveys of Family Growth (NSFG). ⋯ Finally, the subgroups of women who are most likely to stop using a particular method also are generally the groups that are most likely to experience contraceptive failures, while those that are least likely to discontinue use are also least likely to fail. Two exceptions are women who rely on rhythm and those who use the pill. The former experience relatively high rates of failure but are relatively less likely to stop using the method, and the latter have relatively high rates of discontinuation despite a low rate of failure.