Bye-bye birth control

American Demographics, Jan, 1996 by Marica Mogelonsky

As baby-boom women move toward menopause, the female contraceptive market may be headed for a "change" of its own--a downturn. But condom sales probably will not suffer the same fate.

The birth-control market as a whole may decline somewhat in the next few years as growing numbers of baby-boomer women exit their fertile years. But the condom market should continue to flourish. Aside from being an effective way to prevent pregnancy, condoms continue to provide the only way for sexually active singles to l restrict the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Young singles under age 35 are more than twice as likely to buy condoms than over-the-counter (OTC) female contraceptives, according to A.C. Nielsen. While purchases of OTC female contraceptives are about average for this group, spending on condoms is more than 180 percent higher than average. Young unmarried women who use contraception are probably more likely to rely on their partners to provide protection, or they use oral contraceptives and other prescription solutions. They may also be more concerned with protecting themselves against disease. One in four Americans aged 18 to 29 had sex with two or more partners in 1993, as did one in ten of those in their 30s, according to the National Opinion Research Center in Chicago.

Childless married couples under age 35 have different priorities, however. Since they are in essentially monogamous relationships, the issue of safe sex usually takes a back seat to birth control. Although these couples do not yet have children, many are planning to do so. Noninvasive, short-term methods of birth control are the solution for many of these couples. Childless younger couples are 300 percent more likely than average to rely on OTC female contraceptives, and more than 150 percent more likely to depend on condoms.

Couples with children under age 6 are twice as likely as average to rely on both female and male OTC birth-control methods. Again, family planning is undoubtedly a greater consideration for these couples than is safe sex.

Singles aged 35 to 54 are 63 percent less likely than their numbers would indicate to rely on OTC female birth control, according to Nielsen, but condom purchases are 12 percent higher than average. Many women this age have had all the children they plan to bear, so they opt for tubal ligation, IUDs, and other more permanent forms of birth control. But they're still sexually active, and protected sex is still an important consideration for the 9 percent of men and women in their 40s who have had two or more sexual partners in the past year.

The publicity surrounding the AIDS epidemic has dispelled the stereotypical image of a self-conscious young man whispering his request for condoms to a pharmacist. Drugstores now feature entire end-aisle condom displays; some supermarkets even stock contraceptives at candy-free checkout lanes. Condoms are available in convenience stores, discount stores, and warehouse clubs. They may also be purchased from vending machines and through catalogs.

Drugstores remain the standard place for condom purchases, however. Forty-five percent of condom buyers purchase them in pharmacies, 35 percent in discount stores, and 27 percent in supermarkets, according to Nielsen. (People can buy condoms in more than one type of store, so the percentages sum to more than 100.) Likewise, almost half of people who purchase female contraceptives buy them in drugstores, followed by discount stores and supermarkets, at 37 percent and 27 percent, respectively. Birth control even has its own specialty retail outlets. Condom World in Boston, and Condom Hut, a drive-through store in Cranston, Rhode Island, are two of the more imaginative channels for purchases of birth control.

The average American man has six sexual partners over his lifetime, according to the 1994 Sex in America survey conducted by the University of Chicago. That should keep condom sales strong in an aging America.