Reaching Youth with Modern Contraception

Each year, more than seven million births occur to girls under age 18, and two million of those births occur to girls under 15. Unplanned pregnancies result in 3.2 million unsafe abortions among adolescents each year. Improving access to a wide range of family planning methods is critical to improving lives of young people around the world. The private sector has a particularly important role to play in meeting the demand for modern contraception among young people. Worldwide, the private sector is a more important source of modern contraception for young women 15-24 than for women over 25. More adolescents 15-19 obtain their contraception from "other" sources compared to older women. The private sector includes private clinics, private hospitals, private doctors, private pharmacies, and NGO facilities. The public sector includes government clinics and hospitals, government health centers, public family planning clinics, social security programs, and public field workers. Method source among young women 20-24 in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa reveals significant differences. In Asia, 33% of women 25+ obtain modern contraception from the private sector, while 64% of women 20-24 in the same region do so. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 40% of women 25+ obtain modern contraception from the private sector, while 50% of adolescent girls 15-19 in the same region do so. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 38% of women 25+ obtain modern contraception from the private sector, while 51% of adolescent girls 15-19 in the same region do so. Marriage status also plays a significant role in determining the source of modern contraception. Unmarried adolescents are more likely than married adolescents to use the private sector as a source of modern contraception. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 68% of married young women 15-24 obtain modern contraception from the private sector, while 55% of unmarried young women 15-24 in the same region do so. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 41% of married young women 15-24 obtain modern contraception from the private sector, while 54% of unmarried young women 15-24 in the same region do so. Modern contraceptive method choices among adolescents and young women in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean differ. Most unmarried adolescents and young women use condoms, while their married counterparts tend to use injectables. In Latin America and the Caribbean, 59% of unmarried adolescents 15-19 use condoms, while 15% of married adolescents 15-19 in the same region use injectables. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 68% of unmarried adolescents 15-19 use condoms, while 12% of married adolescents 15-19 in the same region use injectables.