Today, the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy released a new, groundbreaking survey that is the first of its kind to take an in-depth look at the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of unmarried young men and women (ages 18-29) about pregnancy planning, contraception, and relationships. The findings might surprise you.

While nearly all single young adults in the survey (86% of men and 88% of women) say it's important for them to avoid pregnancy in their lives right now, fully 43% of them say that over the last three months, they either used contraception inconsistently or not at all.  This leaves them very vulnerable to getting pregnant or causing a pregnancy. The fact is that if you have unprotected sex on a regular basis, you have an 85% chance of pregnancy within a year.

Many think that this generation -- so savvy about technology and finding information in an instant on any topic they choose -- would be the first to know all they need to about sex, pregnancy and how to prevent it.  This survey shows that the opposite is true. While 90% believe they have all the knowledge they need to avoid an unplanned pregnancy, and a whopping 82% have used some form of contraception in the past, fully 30% say they know little or nothing about condoms -- arguably the simplest and most easily available form of contraception.  About six in ten (63%) say they know “little” or “nothing” about birth control pills. And believe it or not, 18% of single young adult men still believe that having sex standing up reduces the chance of pregnancy.  

Even more surprising is that four in ten (38% of men and 44% of women) in the survey agree with the statement: “It doesn’t matter whether you use birth control or not; when it is your time to get pregnant it will happen.”

This survey shows that single young adults lack some basic knowledge about contraception and how to prevent pregnancy. But clearly, knowledge isn't enough. If you really believe that contraception doesn't work anyway, then why use it, or even learn about it, right? So, what gives? Why do you think so many young adults say they don't want pregnancies right now, but are still so much in the dark about contraception?  We want to know what you think. Come to SexReally.com  and tell us.
 
For more on the survey, The Fog Zone: How Misperceptions, Magical Thinking, and Ambivalence Put Young Adults at Risk for Unplanned Pregnancy, visit The.National.Campaign.org.

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