Characteristics of women using the pill.

Pill users tend to differ from other women. They are generally younger and have more children (they have their families before going on the pill). There are more smokers among them and they smoke more heavily. They are less likely to have had a previous serious illness because when determining a patient's suitability to take the pill, a doctor would take into account previous medical history. They also have a higher coital frequency than women using other methods of contraception. The level of education is a significant factor in contraceptive choice. A Melbourne survey found that "within the first three years of (the pill's) introduction, 23 percent of the wives with tertiary education had adopted this new method compared with 3, 12, and 18 percent respectively of those with elementary, lower secondary and upper secondary education as their highest achieved levels .... Over the decade, the educational differential in pill use has declined, especially amongst the Australian born. However, it should be noted that by 1970-71 a new innovational differential had appeared; the most highly educated women had already begun to move away from the pill while levels of usage were reaching a plateau or still rising in other educational groups." It is impossible to generalize about this, even though much research has been done in this area. A Melbourne survey, found that 95% of women had either heard of or used the pill. Another survey, found that 26% of women were using the pill and yet another found that most women disliked the pill. (See also Part 2, Section 5, Attitudes to the pill.))