Comparing the Conception and Abortion Rates among Young People in Britain and France: What Is the Role of Social Disadvantage?

Rachel Scott, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
Nathalie Bajos, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) and Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Kaye Wellings, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
Emma Slaymaker, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)

This paper aims to better understand the pathways through which socioeconomic factors affect the likelihood of conception and abortion among under-20s in Britain and France, and whether these pathways differ between the two countries. We examine differences in sexual behaviour and conceptive-use between Britain and France and test the effect of socioeconomic factors on sexual health behaviours using multivariate logistic regression. We then use mediation analysis to examine how socioeconomic factors operate through sexual and contraceptive behaviours, and whether this pathway varies between Britain and France. We find differences between Britain and France in sexual behaviour and contraceptive-use, and that the effects of socioeconomic factors on sexual health behaviours and outcomes vary between the two countries. Our preliminary results suggest that sexual health outcomes are more socially stratified in Britain than in France.