Contact Name
Barbara Dietsch
562-985-9488

Contact Email
bdietsc@WestEd.org

Susan Tew, M.P.H.
The Alan Guttmacher Institute

New Report Explores the Relationship Between Age Difference, Contraceptive Practice and Pregnancy Among U.S. Women and Men

According to a new analysis, "Age Differences Between Sexual Partners in the United States," by The Alan Guttmacher Institute (AGI), women younger than 18 are more likely than older women to have sexual partners close to their own age: Sixty-four percent of sexually active 15 - 17 year-old women have partners who are within two years of their age, compared with 49% of women aged 30 - 34. Previous research on the age of young people's sexual partners has shown only the age of fathers of babies born to teenage women and the age of the sexual partners of young women at first intercourse. The new AGI study is the first to provide information about the age of the partners of women currently in sexual relationships and the partners of women who have had an abortion.

Public attention regarding age differences between women and men in sexual relationships has focused on teenage women with older men. Minors have a higher proportion of partners who are 3 - 5 years older (29%), compared with women aged 20 - 39 (18 - 21%). Yet, only seven percent of minors have partners who are six or more years older, compared with 17 - 22% of women aged 20 - 39. Although the proportion of women younger than 18 who have a much older partner is small, the nature and consequences of such relationships justifiably cause concern. These teenagers and their partners have a lower rate of contraceptive use, and their pregnancy rate is nearly four times the rate of those whose partners are no more than two years older.

AGI researchers Jacqueline Darroch, David Landry and Selene Oslak summarize the findings of their analysis: "Until we better understand why some young women have sexual relationships with much older men, and why some older men have sexual relationships with teenage women, it will be difficult either to formulate policies that will influence their behavior or to gauge the extent to which the high pregnancy rates among these young women result from pressure from the men to have sex and to have a child, from their own desire to move quickly into motherhood and adulthood, or from difficulties in avoiding unintended pregnancy and childbearing." The study is based on data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth (a nationally representative survey of women of reproductive age) and natality data also collected by the National Center for Health Statistics, as well as information from a 1994 - 1995 AGI survey of women having abortions. In general, sexually active U.S. women of all ages have older sexual partners; four in 10 women have partners who are three or more years older. About one in 10 women have partners who are three or more years younger.

Other key findings from the analysis regarding women younger than 18:

• Among minors at risk of unplanned pregnancy, two-thirds (66%) of those with a much older partner (six or more years older) used a contraceptive at last intercourse, compared with three-quarters (78%) of those whose partner is within two years of their age.

• Seven in 10 (69%) unmarried minors whose partner is much older become pregnant, compared with about one-quarter (23%) of those whose partner is 3 - 5 years older and 17% of those whose partner is no more than two years older.

• Among minors who become pregnant, those with a partner who is six or more years older are more likely to have an intended pregnancy or birth resulting from an unintended pregnancy than are those whose partner is not more than two years older.

• Unmarried minors whose partner is close to their own age are more than twice as likely to have an abortion when faced with an unplanned pregnancy than those whose partner is much older.

• Women aged 15 - 17 who have ever been forced to have sex are twice as likely as those who have not to have a partner who is 3 - 5 years older.

The study is published in the July/August 1999 issue of the Institute's bimonthly, peer-reviewed professional journal, Family Planning Perspectives.

In a related analysis, "Using-and Misusing-Data on Age Differences Between Minors and Their Sexual Partners," published in the August 1999 issue of AGI's The Guttmacher Report on Public Policy, policy analyst Rebekah Saul provides political and legislative context for the new study by Darroch, Landry and Oslak.

Saul notes, "In debates over parental involvement and statutory rape prosecution, the extent to which minor teenagers-as opposed to all teenagers, which includes 18 - 19 year-olds-are sexually involved with adult men has often been misunderstood." She mentions specifically the erroneous notion that large numbers of young adolescents are involved with much older men, cited most recently by proponents of federal legislation that would prohibit transporting a minor across state lines to have an abortion if parental involvement requirements in her home state have not been met. "Understanding the research on age differences between young women and their sexual partner-including a....study that focuses on sexually active and pregnant teens, not just teen mothers-is critical to finding solutions and formulating responsible public policy in this highly sensitive and controversial arena."