Contraceptive Use in the United States

The need for contraceptives

• There are 61 million U.S. women of reproductive age (15–44).¹ About 43 million of them (70%) are at risk of unintended pregnancy—that is, they are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant, but could become pregnant if they and their partners fail to use a contraceptive method correctly and consistently.²
• Couples who do not use any method of contraception have approximately an 85% chance of experiencing a pregnancy over the course of a year.³
• In the United States, the average desired family size is two children. To achieve this family size, a woman must use contraceptives for roughly three decades.⁴

Learn more below.