Women in their 20s are driving a surge in abortions, with many people concerned about climbing the wealth ladder to end a pregnancy, according to new research.
Some claimed a ‘Glastonbury-like scramble’ for GP appointments left them without access to contraception as they had to apply for a discharge.
Others resorted to trendy fertility tracker apps promoted as “natural contraceptives” and ended up with an unplanned pregnancy.
Official data shows a record 252,122 abortions were carried out in England and Wales in 2022, a 17 per cent increase on the previous year.
This equates to one in fifty women in England and Wales aged 15 to 44 having a termination of pregnancy.
A closer look at the figures shows that women in their early 20s – among those dubbed Generation Rent because so few can afford a mortgage – were the age group most likely to choose an abortion in 2022, with 36.4 terminations per 1,000 women, almost double the national average.
Your browser does not support iframes.
It comes as official data shows a record 252,122 abortions were carried out in England and Wales in 2022, a 17 per cent increase on the previous year (stock image)
Your browser does not support iframes.
Data collected by the UK Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), one of the largest providers of NHS-funded terminations, shows that most women who choose to end their pregnancies do so for financial reasons.
Of the 1,300 women surveyed, more than half (57 percent) said money worries had influenced their decision to have an abortion.
Housing, or rather the lack thereof, was often cited as one of the key factors.
One woman told BPAS: ‘We have also moved into a two-bedroom house which we rent privately for £1,300 a month.
“Simply put, we don’t have the space or money for another child right now.”
Another said: ‘I ended the pregnancy because I wasn’t financially stable. I wasn’t at the right stage of my life because I don’t have my own home.’
Data shows that the number of Brits owning their own home has fallen by half a million in the past decade, while the number renting has risen by 1.3 million.
Analysis of the 2021 Census by the Office for National Statistics shows that 15.5 million households owned their homes outright or with a mortgage, and at 62.5 percent this is the lowest share in a decade.
At the same time, the number of households renting increased from 8 million to 9.3 million (34.3 percent to 37.3 percent).
Not only have rents increased, but costs have also risen, data shows increased by as much as 60 percent in parts of the country over the past eight years.
Other women simply cited financial reasons in general or the lack of a partner as reasons for having an abortion.
One of them said: ‘There were many reasons why I couldn’t go through with the pregnancy, but the financial side of it was about 70 percent.’
The number of women using natural family planning – monitoring cycle length, temperature and cervical mucus to predict when they will be fertile – has doubled in the past decade, NHS figures show.
According to NHS data, the proportion of women using oral contraceptives has fallen by more than two-thirds, from 420,600 in 2012/2013 to 126,400 in 2022/2023. Around 555,400 women turned to health services’ sexual and reproductive health services in 2022/2023 – equivalent to four per cent of 13 to 54 year olds. Of these, 8,800 admitted to using ‘natural family planning’ as their main method of contraception
Another added: ‘A difficult and heartbreaking decision but I wasn’t financially or mentally ready to bring a baby into this world on my own.’
The BPAS data also suggests that financial reasons were not the only factor in women’s choice to undergo termination of pregnancy, with another factor being the lack of contraceptive options or arrangements.
Many women told BPAS that they became pregnant without intending to do so while waiting for repeat prescriptions for the pill or for an IUD or implant to be fitted.
Some women even said Britain’s endless GP crisis was to blame.
One said: ‘I found it difficult to make an appointment with a GP to get contraception as there is no option to pre-book and all appointments on the day are over very quickly meaning I don’t see the GP I couldn’t see at all.
Another added: ‘There should be an easier channel to reach contraception. Having to call a doctor at 8 a.m. more than 200 times and being turned away because all the places are taken causes unwanted pregnancies.’
Patients complain of having to endure the ‘Glastonbury ticket-like’ struggle to get a GP appointment, often involving long waits in phone queues since the country emerged from the Covid-19 crisis .
NHS data for March this year suggested that almost one in ten GP appointments were held almost a month after the original booking, while another similar proportion were held just three weeks after a patient contacted the practice.
The NHS says natural family planning can be up to 99 percent effective if done correctly, and around 75 percent if not used as instructed. By comparison, the pill, implant, IUD, and IUD are 99 percent effective when used perfectly, while condoms are 98 percent effective.
Difficulties in obtaining timely contraceptive treatments, combined with an overall decline in the number of young women using hormone-based contraceptives such as the pill, are associated with an increase in reliance on trendy fertility awareness apps.
Official data shows that the proportion of women using oral contraceptives has fallen by more than two-thirds over the past decade.
At the same time, the number of women relying on ‘fertility awareness’, which monitors the menstrual cycle to find out when they are most likely to become pregnant, has doubled in the past decade.
A woman who had an abortion told BPAS that a lack of contraceptive options on the NHS led her to use alternatives, which ended in pregnancy and abortion.
‘My only option left was to follow natural pregnancy prevention methods, which are obviously not 100 percent effective.’
Another admitted she used a fertility tracker because current birth control options “scared” her.
‘The side effects and the fact that it is mainly aimed at women put me off. It led to me having to track my cycle,” she said.
She added: ‘Abortion is not an easy option, but the alternatives are limited.’
Heidi Stewart, CEO of BPAS, condemned the results of their research: ‘No woman should have to terminate a pregnancy that she would otherwise have continued purely for financial reasons.
‘The stories women have shared with us are heartbreaking. The cost of living crisis has put enormous pressure on women and families, with too many people having to choose between financial stability and having a baby.
“With the second highest cost of childcare in the developed world, whichever party is elected on July 4 must prioritize reducing the cost of living and making childcare more affordable.”
She added: “No woman should become pregnant because the health care system is failing to provide women with the contraception they want and need, when they need it,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: ‘It is important that women have timely access to safe abortion services provided within the legal framework set out in the Abortion Act.
‘There are a number of factors that may contribute to the rising number of abortions and the department will continue to consider the evidence to further understand these factors.’