Contraceptive failure and continuation among married women in the United States, 1970-75.

Using data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG), this study reports differentials in contraceptive use-failure and continuation among married women aged 15-44 years in the United States. Failure rates differed by contraceptive intention. Within categories of intention, these rates differed by method, age, race, and parity. Users of modern methods had higher continuation rates than users of traditional methods. These results indicate that a woman's motivation is an important factor in long-term successful use of available contraceptive methods and that more effective and easier to use methods need to be developed.