N C H S - Publications and Information Products - Fertility, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health of U.S. Women: Data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth

Fertility, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health of U.S. Women: Data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth

Series 23, No. 25. Fertility, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health of U.S. Women: Data from the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. (PHS) 2006-1977. 174 pp.
View/download PDF 4.8 MB

This comprehensive report presents national estimates of fertility, family planning, and reproductive health indicators among females 15-44 years of age in the United States in 2002 from Cycle 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Women’s reproductive experiences vary significantly, and often sharply, by demographic characteristics such as education, income, and Hispanic origin and race as shown in this report. Some patterns have also changed over time and trend data are presented to document those changes.

About 14 percent of recent births to women 15-44 years of age in 2002 were unwanted at time of conception, an increase from the 9 percent seen for recent births in 1995.

About 61 percent of women 25-44 years of age with less than a high school degree reported having had an unintended birth (either mistimed or unwanted at time of conception), compared with 18 percent of women with college degrees.

Among recent births, 64 percent occurred within marriage, 14 percent within cohabiting unions, and 21 percent to women who were neither married nor cohabiting. This indicates that among the recent births that were nonmarital, about 40 percent were to cohabiting women.

While 74 percent of first births to non-Hispanic white women occurred within marriage, 54 percent of first births to Hispanic women and 23 percent of first births to non-Hispanic black women occurred within marriage. Among first births to Hispanic women, 1 in 5 occurred within cohabiting unions, compared with 1 in 10 of first births to white women and 1 in 7 first births to black women.

The overall rate of breastfeeding among recent births increased from 55 to 67 percent between the 1995 and 2002 surveys. Babies born to non-Hispanic black mothers in 1997-2000 were nearly twice as likely to be breastfed as those born in 1990–93.

As in 1995, Medicaid or other government assistance was used to pay for one third of women’s most recent deliveries. The proportion of deliveries paid for in this way was strongly related to mother's age at the birth—nearly two-thirds of births to women younger than age 20 were paid for by Medicaid or other government assistance, compared with 14 percent of births to women 30-44 years of age.

Women who were younger at first sexual intercourse were more likely to have ever been treated for pelvic inflammatory disease or other sexually transmitted infections—26 percent of women who first had sexual intercourse before age 15, compared with 10 percent of those who first had intercourse at 20 years or older.

A higher percentage of women 15-44 (42 percent) had never been married, based on the 2002 data, compared with 38 percent based on the 1995 data. The latest data indicate that 61 percent of non-Hispanic black women had never been married, compared with 37 percent of white women and 42 percent of Hispanic women.

Cohabitation has increased over the past decade: About 50 percent of women 15-44 had ever cohabited, compared with 41 percent of women in the 1995 survey; the percentage of women currently cohabiting also increased, from 7 to 9 percent between 1995 and 2002.

Women who were first married in more recent years were somewhat more likely to have their first sexual intercourse before marriage. However, the more significant difference by year of first marriage was in the duration of time between first intercourse and first marriage. For example, among women first married in 1990-2002, about 6 in 10 had their first intercourse 5 or more years before marriage, compared with 3 in 10 women who were first married in the 1980s and less than 1 in 10 women who were first married before 1980.

Across all race and origin groups surveyed, younger age at first sexual intercourse was associated with higher incidence of nonvoluntary first intercourse—20 percent of women who first had intercourse before 15 years of age reported their first intercourse as not voluntary, compared with 4 percent of women who first had intercourse at 20 years or older.

The percentages of married women 40-44 years of age who report “any sterilizing operations” or “tubal sterilization” have fallen between 1995 and 2002. (For example, among married women 40-44, 66 percent reported any sterilizing operations in 1995, compared with 54 percent in 2002.) These changes are probably related to the overall patterns of delayed childbearing among women 15-44 years of age, which result in lower proportions of older women being ready to adopt permanent forms of contraception.

In 2002, 12 percent of women 15-44 (or 7.3 million women) had impaired fecundity, a physical difficulty with getting pregnant or carrying a baby to term. This represents an increase of about 2 percentage points from the levels seen in 1988 and 1995. About 15 percent of married women had impaired fecundity, representing an estimated 4.3 million women in 2002.

In 2002, 7.4 percent of married women, or about 2.1 million women, were infertile (12 months or longer without birth control and without a pregnancy). This is about the same level as seen in 1995, but represents a significant decline from the prevalence of 8.4 percent in 1982.

Non-Hispanic white and black women whose first intercourse occurred between 1990 and 2002 were more likely to have used a method of contraception at first intercourse than Hispanic women—80, 70, and 52 percent, respectively. Women with lower education, lower income, or who were Hispanic or non-Hispanic black, were less likely to use a method of contraception at their last intercourse.

Nearly 4 in 10 women (38 percent) receiving family planning services in the last 12 months from a Title X clinic had incomes below the poverty level, compared with 11 percent of those receiving services from a private doctor's office or health maintenance organization (HMO).

Descriptive tables of numbers and percentages are presented and interpreted, based on Cycle 6 of the National Survey of Family Growth. NSFG data were collected through in-person interviews of the household population 15-44 years of age in the United States, between March 2002 and March 2003. The sample included 7,643 females and 4,928 males, and this report focuses on data from the female sample. The overall response rate for the Cycle 6 NSFG was 79 percent, and the response rate for women was 80 percent.