Family planning perspectives
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Rates of teenage pregnancy, birth and abortion vary greatly among states. Because states that have high birthrates tend to have low abortion rates, pregnancy levels vary much less than do the birth and abortion measures. The role of unintended pregnancy is highlighted by the fact that in states that have very high pregnancy rates, the adolescent abortion rate is higher than the birthrate and the abortion rate combined in states that have the lowest pregnancy rates. ⋯ Increased spending on education is associated with relatively high abortion rates (and, therefore, pregnancy rates). The higher the teacher-student ratio, the lower the adolescent birthrate and the more likely the pregnant teenager is to have an abortion. Welfare payments to teenage mothers are negatively associated with both black and white teenage birthrates, and higher maximum payments are associated with relatively high abortion levels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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A multivariate life-table analysis of national survey data from 1982 indicates that among currently married women, the pill and IUD have the lowest use-failure rates. During the first year of use, about three percent of pill users and six percent of IUD users experience an unintended pregnancy. Failure rates for the remaining methods range from 14 percent for the condom to 22 percent for spermicides; between these lie rhythm and natural family planning (16 percent), the diaphragm (17 percent) and other methods, mainly withdrawal, douche and abstinence. ⋯ In addition, these rates are understated because of the substantial underreporting of abortion among single women; if abortion reporting were complete, failure rates would be about 1.4 times as high as they appear here, and thus would be close to those of married women. Differences in the risk of unintended pregnancy among single women show a number of similarities with those seen among married women: Use of the pill and IUD is associated with the lowest failure rates, reliance on the condom is associated with intermediate failure rates, and use of spermicides is linked with the highest failure rates. However, while rhythm and the diaphragm exhibit use-failure rates that are among the highest found for single women, failure rates for these methods are at intermediate levels among married women.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)