Who Doesn't Use Birth Control

Interesting report on birth control use and age group from Great Britain (emphasis mine):

Doctors at a Glasgow hospital analysed the birth control attempted by nearly 1,000 women requesting abortions.

They found the proportion of older women who had used no contraception at all was roughly similar to the percentage of teenagers.

...

The research at the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow looked at approximately 950 women who had asked for an abortion, comprising 246 teenagers and just under 700 women aged 20 or older.

Some had experienced a contraceptive failure, such as a burst condom, or had fallen pregnant despite taking oral contraceptives.

However, a large proportion had become pregnant following sex without any attempt at contraception.

In all, 57% of the teenagers had not used contraception, and 51% of the older women - and this small difference was not statistically significant.

Roughly the same proportion in both groups had used condoms, or were taking the Pill.

Dr Marco Gaudoin, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist from Southern General Hospital and an author of the paper said: "The findings demonstrate that not only do we have a long way to go in persuading teenagers to use reliable contraception but contraceptive education should also be continued in all women, regardless of their age."