The condom is now as popular as the Pill among young women, according to figures released yesterday.
The two methods of contraception are used equally for the first time since such statistics have been collected. The Office for National Statistics said that for women under 50 during 2008-09, condoms were the normal method of birth control for 25 per cent, while the same proportion used the Pill. The proportion of Pill-takers was 28 per cent during the previous year, against 24 per cent using condoms. The figures follow a £5.2million campaign by the Department of Health to get more young women to carry condoms.
The publicity drive had been heavily criticised for crude 'confidence tips' to help young women persuade men to use condoms, including the slogan 'Let's get you ready for the ride of your life'.
Other methods of contraception include partner sterilisation (used by 11 per cent of women under 50), self-sterilisation (6 per cent) and long-acting hormonal contraception (11 per cent). There is some overlap between methods used.
Condoms and the Pill are especially popular among younger women, while older women are more likely to rely on sterilisation or their partner's vasectomy.
Three out of four women under 50 use contraception, say the ONS figures, based on a survey of 1,093 women under 50. Other statistics show the number of people using NHS community-contraception clinics rose by 7 per cent to 1.3million last year. Victoria Sheard, deputy head of policy at sexual health charity the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: 'An increase in condom use is very good news as condoms offer double protection - against sexually transmitted infections as well as unwanted pregnancy.' The fpa, formerly the Family Planning Association, called the figures 'encouraging'. But a spokesman for the Marie Stopes International, the sexual and reproductive health charity, said women could not afford to become complacent, saying: ' Contraception needs to be used consistently and correctly to be effective.
'Not all women follow these instructions as they should and are in complete shock to find themselves pregnant.' In 2006, then health minister Caroline Flint said that a condom should be as much a feature in a woman's handbag as lipstick. But experts said the declining popularity of the Pill appeared to be a bigger factor behind the latest figures than young people heeding advice about avoiding sexually transmitted infections. More than half of sexually active single people - 58 per cent of men and 52 per cent of women - said publicity about STIs had not made them use condoms more often or have fewer one-night stands.