Socioeconomic disadvantage and adolescent women's sexual and reproductive behavior: The case of five developed countries

Sexual Activity

Four countries have data on timing of first intercourse according to economic status. In Canada, Great Britain and, especially, the United States, differences in the initiation of sexual activity according to economic status are relatively small, and women in the lowest economic group are somewhat more likely than those of higher economic status to have initiated intercourse before age 20 (Figure 3, page 255). By contrast, in France, a larger proportion of women in the highest income group than in the lowest-income group became sexually active before age 20. The small sample size of the highest income group in France may explain this unexpected finding, especially considering that the opposite pattern is found according to educational attainment (discussed below).*

Differences in initiation of sexual activity across levels of educational attainment are large and are consistent in the two countries with relevant data (Table 2). In the United States, 95% of 20-24-year-- old women with less than a high school education became sexually active before age 20, compared with 72% of those with some postsecondary education. In France, the proportion was 91% among those with the least education and 79-80% among those who had completed high school or who had some postsecondary education.

Data on young women's sexual activity before age 20 according to their current school and employment status are available for Canada, Great Britain and the United States. The findings are similar to those for educational attainment: In all three countries, young women aged 20-24 who were continuing their education were less likely to have begun sexual activity before age 20 than those who were working only or who were neither working nor in school.

Variations in young women's initiation of sexual activity according to race and ethnicity and immigrant status also are substantial. In Canada, nonwhite women aged 20-24 are much less likely than white women to have become sexually active before age 20 (38% vs. 80%); the differential between foreign-born women and native Canadians is about the same (42% vs. 79%). In Great Britain, the differences are in the same direction: Nonwhite and foreign-born women are less likely to have become sexually active by age 20 (62% and 67%, respectively) than are white and native-born women (86% and 85%, respectively). Differences in the United States are smaller: The proportion of young women who had sexual intercourse before age 20 ranges from 74% among Hispanics to 81% among whites and 89% among blacks; similarly, 70% of foreign-born and 82% of native-born women were sexually active as adolescents.

Contraceptive Use

In both Great Britain and the United States, economic disadvantage is linked to a low level of contraceptive use at first intercourse. Seventy percent of the most disadvantaged sexually experienced 16-19-year-olds in Great Britain and 15-19-year-olds in the United States used a method on this occasion, compared with 81-86% of better-off groups in Great Britain and 78% in the United States.