Methods Section for 'An End to Population Growth: Why Family Planning is Key to a Sustainable Future'

Abstract

"The Guttmacher Institute provides estimates, covering various years in the last decade, of the proportions of all pregnancies that women report as unintended in many developing and developed countries. More than 40 percent of pregnancies fall into this category in developing countries, and more than 47 percent are unintended in developed countries such as the United States. Since many unintended pregnancies end in abortion and some in miscarriage, knowing this proportion is insufficient to estimate impacts on fertility in any population. Guttmacher researchers do further separate out these national data by pregnancy outcome, allowing for an estimate of the proportion of all births that result from unintended pregnancies. Globally, the proportion is surprisingly consistent: 22 percent in developed countries and just over 21 percent in developing ones. More than one in five human births, based on survey results, are the result of a pregnancy that the woman did not want to happen."