Contraceptive choice in the United States: Process, determinants, and change

This chapter examines the current choices that white, non-Hispanic American women and their spouses are making, the determinants thereof, and the changes that have occurred in the structure of those determinants between 1976 and 1982. It focuses on social and demographic factors and on current choice. Current choice, however, arises from a process that typically begins in one’s teenage years. Although the overall structure of the determinants of contraceptive choice remained fairly stable between 1976 and 1982, there were several important changes. Regional differences diminished as did parity differences. After more than a decade of below-replacement fertility in the United States, contraceptive choice may no longer seem to be a subject of interest to American social demographers or policymakers. A wide variety of contraceptive choices is available, and most women in the United States are protected by highly effective and coital-independent methods.