Preferences Against Nonmarital Fertility Predict Steps to Prevent Nonmarital Pregnancy

How Religion, Social Class, and Race Intersect in the Shaping of Young Women’s Understandings of Sex, Reproduction, and Contraception

“…Furthermore, upon becoming sexually active, religiously conservative adolescents are often less knowledgeable about reproductive and sexual health, putting them at greater risk of having unprotected sex (Harrington et al 2014). Thus, although these adolescents nevertheless tend to support contraceptive use in the abstract, they are still at heightened risk of unprotected sex due to lack of knowledge, lack of preparation (i.e., because they did not plan to have sex, they may not be on birth control or have access to contraceptives), or ambivalence toward pregnancy (Coleman and Testa 2008;Frost et al 2007;Kusunoki and Upchurch 2011;Manlove et al 2007;Shattuck 2019). Finally, within Christian traditions, there is important variation in contraceptive use, suggesting that holding conservative beliefs does matter: Mainline Protestant youth report the highest level of consistent contraceptive use, with 78% saying that they use protection every time, compared to 62% of evangelical Protestants and 57% of Black Protestants (Regnerus 2007; see also Kramer et al 2007).…”

Young women's joint relationship, sex, and contraceptive trajectories: Evidence from the United States

“…Moreover, studies from the United States and Europe find that expectations and intentions are strong predictors of subsequent fertility-related behaviors (Miller, Barber, and Gatny 2013;Rosengard et al 2004;Thomson 1997;Williams, Abma, and Piccinino 1999). For example, women with a preference against having a child outside of a marriage take precautions to prevent that experience, including delaying intercourse until marriage and consistently using contraception while unmarried (Shattuck 2019). This leads us to expect that young women with more positive attitudes toward nonmarital sex will spend more time in sexual relationships and potentially transition in and out of sexual relationships more frequently.…”