They were first approved for contraceptive use in the United States in 1960, and are a very popular form of birth control. They are used by more than 100 million women worldwide and by almost 12 million women in the United States. From 2015 to 2017, 12.6% of women aged 15–49 in the US reported using oral contraception, making it the second most common method of contraception in this age range with female sterilization being the most common method. Use varies widely by country, age, education, and marital status. One third of women aged 16–49 in the United Kingdom currently use either the combined pill or progestogen-only pill (POP), compared with less than 3% of women in Japan (as of 1950-2014).