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In their search for the causes of rising out-of-wedlock births, some social critics blame poor women for not using birth control. Yet a new study suggests that low-income women are only slightly less likely than average to use contraceptives. However, they are more likely than their higher-income counterparts to experience contraceptive failure resulting in unplanned pregnancy.

Eight in ten sexually active low-income women use reversible contraceptives, according to a survey by The Alan Guttmacher Institute. The telephone survey interviewed more than 1,850 women aged 18 to 34 with household incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, who were at risk of unintended pregnancy. Low-income contraceptive users experience more unplanned pregnancies than women who are better off. Three-fourths of pregnancies to low-income women are unplanned, compared with half of pregnancies to higher-income women.

The reason may lie in the relationships of poor women with their health-care providers. Many low-income women rely on free clinics, which may be overburdened compared with the providers available to women with private health insurance.

Understaffed clinics may not be able to provide poor women with the information and encouragement necessary for effective contraceptive use. In addition, those who express dissatisfaction with their clinic are less likely than satisfied low-income women to use contraceptives consistently and effectively. They are also less likely to believe that contraceptives are important in preventing pregnancies, and to be satisfied with their method of contraception.

For more information, see "The Family Planning Attitudes and Experiences of Low-Income Women," in the November/December 1996 Family Planning Perspectives, published by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 120 Wall Street, New York, NY 1005; telephone (212) 248-1111.