The Federal Centre for Health Education’s (BZgA) representative study Youth Sexuality 9th Iteration is a representative repeat survey. A large-scale survey of young people, their parents and young adults was launched for the ninth time in the summer of 2019. It follows on from predecessor studies conducted between 1980 and 2014. The goal of the study is to acquire reliable data about the attitudes and behaviours of young people in the Federal Republic of Germany with regards to sexuality and contraception.
The participants of the Youth Sexuality Study were also asked about their knowledge of and access to the ‘morning-after pill’. The morning-after pill is an emergency contraceptive that can be used when contraceptive has failed or contraception has not been used. In March 2015 the prescription requirement for emergency contraception was abolished in Germany, meaning that since then the ‘morning- after pill’ has been available without a prescription from pharmacies for those who need it.
This fact sheet presents the core results on emergency contraception for the sample group of 14- to 25-year-old girls and young women.
Results: An Overview
- Most girls and young women have already heard of emergency contraception.
- The ‘morning-after pill’ supplements other contraceptive methods, but does not replace them.
- The older and more sexually experienced the girls and young women are, the more likely they are to have made use of the ‘morning-after pill’.
- Girls and young women with higher (desired) school qualifications are more likely to use the ‘morning-after pill’.
- There is a connection between the girls and young women becoming sexually active, their contraceptive behaviour and their use of the ‘morning-after pill’.
- The girls and young women feel that obtaining and accessing the ‘morning-after pill’ is complicated and / or they have concerns about taking it.