The French pill scare: towards a new contraceptive model?

Nathalie Bajos, Mylène Rouzaud-Cornabas, Henri Panjo, Aline Bohet, Caroline Moreau, l’équipe de l’enquête Fecond

Population and Societies

n° 511, May 2014

Subscribe to the e-alert

Download

A major controversy arose around third- and fourth-generation pills in late 2012 and early 2013, which led to the end of their reimbursement by the French national health insurance system in March 2013. What were the consequences of the controversy for the contraceptive model in France? Analysing the Fecond survey, carried out a few months later, the authors examine recent changes in contraceptive practices and the contribution of the media debate to these changes.

The media debate in late 2012 and early 2013 on contraceptive pills did not reduce contraceptive prevalence,but the use of oral contraception decreased, falling from 50% in 2010 to 41% in 2013. A portion of women opted for other methods, notably IUDs (among the most educated), condoms, or "natural" methods (among the most disadvantaged). New social inequalities in contraceptive use appeared. The 2013 debate contributed to a diversification of contraceptive practices, although the pill remains dominant.

The French pill scare: towards a new contraceptive model?

Population and Societies

Receive the e-alert

Same author

Sexual violence against children and adolescents: Family abuse is seldom discussed

Childlessness: a life choice that goes against the norm

Sexuality in France: Gender Practices and Health

Contraception in France : new context, new practices?

Why has the number of abortions not declined in France over the past 30 years?

The growing medicalization of contraception in France.

On the same topic

Is the French population on a path to decline

Abortion in France 50 years after the Veil Act: Rates and methods that vary across the country

Histoire du Japon - L’économie et la population

Sexual and reproductive rights 30 years after the Cairo Conference on Population and Development

Politique d’immigration, statut légal et fécondité des migrantes : le cas de Mayotte

United Nations comparative fertility survey programs: balancing national challenges and international objectives

Stillbirths in France: Over half of women go on to have another child

Is France still a demographic outlier in Europe?