In 2011, 45 percent of pregnancies were unintended, compared to 51 percent in 2008. From 2001 to 2008, the authors noted a slight increase in unplanned pregnancy rates, between 2008 and 2011, the rate of unintended pregnancies that ended in birth rose from 27 per 1000 to 22 per 1000. During the same period, rates of unintended pregnancy among populations below the federal poverty level were two to three times the national average.
“After a previous period of minimal change, the rate of unintended pregnancy in the United States declined substantially between 2008 and 2011, but unintended pregnancies remained most common among women and girls who were poor and those who were cohabiting,” the authors concluded.
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