The more educated a woman is, the more she will resort to contraception in her sex life, says a report commissioned by the French health ministry. It covered 1,000 women aged between 13 and 64 living in difficult social conditions, or taking part in discussion groups dealing with the risks of unprotected sex. On the other hand, 58.5 per cent of less-qualified women used the pill and 25 per cent the coil. Students or secondary schoolgirls were at 85 per cent the biggest users of contraceptives, compared with 65.6 per cent of women in work, 59.6 per cent of housewives and 55.8 per cent of the unemployed.
Religion is also an influence on contraceptive use.
More than 75 per cent of women with no religious affiliation and Catholics were the most numerous in protecting themselves against getting pregnant, compared with 53.4 per cent of Muslims who at 27 per cent were over-represented in the study. Although 27.3 per cent of Catholics and 21.5 per cent of those with no religion used a condom the first time they had sex, only 9.3 per cent of Muslims used the device. Women in a deprived social situation had sex for the first time at 18, compared with the average age of 19 in France. First-time sex did not vary with the level of education, but religion was a determining factor. An educational background also led to greater sexual independence.