August 31, 2022

You Better Work: Contraceptive use shows younger generations are more career focused

A recent survey conducted by Family Planning has shown a large percentage of young Kiwis are waiting for the right career circumstance before considering having kids.

The survey, Why People Choose Family Planning, was conducted to celebrate the clinics 85 year in business. Yet the report unearthed some interesting stats that supports the assumption that more of the younger generations are waiting for career trajectory before having kids. This can be attributed to either to the new career focused female or the rising cost of living and raising a child.

When conducting the survey Family Planning asked young clients why they use contraception. The reasons most commonly reported as very important among young clients were that they want to have a good job before having a baby (76%), want to wait until they are ready to have a baby (75%), want until they are older to have a baby (73%), and want to wait until they can afford to have a baby (70%).

While these reasons were similar to those reported by all respondents, waiting until I am older did not feature among all respondents. Far fewer young people reported that contraception gives them control over their lives (58%), as compared to all respondents (72%), perhaps reflecting that young people may generally feel that they have less control over their lives as compared to adults.

Twenty-seven percent (27%) of young clients reported that a very important reason why they were using contraception is that their partner wants them to use contraception. This is an interesting finding and one that raises questions about the ways that partners may be involved with or influence contraceptive decision making, and if reproductive coercion was a factor in some of these responses.

A finding from the survey, and one that mirrors the reported decline in both teenage pregnancy and abortion rates, was that preventing a pregnancy was very important to two-thirds of our clients (66%) and very important to 78% of young clients.