With Hannah Zagel (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Previous research finds contraceptive use to be stratified both by social background and by gender. Analysing data from the “Survey on Italians’ Sexual Behavior” (2006), our study is the first to study these links in Italy. Looking at changes in contraceptive use at first intercourse before and after liberalization of family planning institutions in Italy, we find no difference by social background in the restrictive regulation period, but difference for young men in the liberal period. The probability of contraceptive use occurred for both young men and women, but women remain less likely to use contraception than their male counterparts even after liberalization. For studying the role of specific institutions, we included macro-level indicators for access to and information on contraception.
