United Kingdom: How Condoms Became as Popular as Pill Among Younger Women

In 2008-09, for the first time since such statistics have been collected, the proportion of women in Britain using the birth-control pill was the same as the proportion using condoms, according to a new Office of National Statistics survey. Three out four women under 50 reported the use of some type of contraceptive.

Among the 1,093 women surveyed, 25 percent said they used oral contraceptives, which was the same rate for condom use. Compared to the year before, pill taking declined 3 percent and condom use grew 1 percent. The data do not exclude overlap between the two methods.

The report follows a £5.2 million (US $8.5 million) Department of Health campaign encouraging women to carry condoms and offering tips to persuade men to use them. Some of the advice has been criticized as crude.

Experts believe the popularity of oral contraceptives has declined, rather than that STD awareness has prompted more condom use. Fifty-eight percent of men and 52 percent of women said publicity about STDs had not made them use condoms more or have fewer one-night stands. Nonetheless, other data show that the number of people using National Health Service community contraception clinics rose by 7 percent last year.

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