Low-income women use fewer reimbursed contraceptives, study finds

Women with lower incomes use reimbursed contraceptives less than others, at all ages of reproductive life, finds a study by the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) (PDF document) published Wednesday November 22. Carried out in collaboration with the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, it reveals that only 36% of low-income women use a reimbursed contraceptive, compared to 46% of women with higher incomes. “This disparity persists regardless of the age of women”specifies an INED summary.

Health insurance reimburses certain birth control pills, hormonal contraceptive implants, injectable progestins, intrauterine devices or IUDs and diaphragms. However, “the removal of a financial barrier, through reimbursement, does not guarantee the absence of other barriers which could hinder access to contraception for low-income women”, notes the study. These women could, for example, encounter “difficulties in accessing contraceptive prescribers” or administrative difficulties in maintaining their social security coverage.

This study was carried out on health insurance data from 14.8 million women, aged 15 to 49, living in France in 2019. Among them, 11% lived below the monetary poverty line, or approximately 1,100 euros for a single person.