Factors Associated with an Unmet Need for Contraception in the United States, 2002-2017

This study investigates the association between individual-level characteristics and the risk of having an unmet need for contraception in the United States between 2002 and 2017 for women who were sexually active, not pregnant or postpartum, fecund, and wanted no more children. Using data from the National Survey of Family Growth, logistic regression models are used to estimate the association between demographic, socioeconomic, and reproductive characteristics and the probability of having an unmet need for any contraception and for modern methods. The results show that 6.8% of the women at risk did not use any form of contraception and 12.1% did not use any modern method. Women who were black, Catholic, insured by Medicaid or uninsured, nulliparous, and who had not used contraception at their first sex had the greatest odds of having an unmet need, suggesting that specific groups are disproportionately vulnerable to unwanted pregnancy in the United States.