More than 30% of young Irish men and women don't always use contraception during sex

According to the studies published by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) dealing with both sexual literacy and sexual behaviours, over 80% of young men and women know that condom usage is the best method of preventing a sexually transmitted infection. File picture

Almost 40% of young men and more than 30% of young women in Ireland do not always use condoms or other forms of contraception when having sex, according to new research.

According to the studies published by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) dealing with both sexual literacy and sexual behaviours, over 80% of young men and women know that condom usage is the best method of preventing a sexually transmitted infection.

The findings chime with previous research by the World Health Organisation, which stated last August that condom use among teenagers is falling at an “alarming” rate, and has been doing so since 2014.

The ESRI researchers also find only 21% of men and 37% of women understand at what point of the female menstrual cycle a pregnancy is most likely to occur.

Roughly a third of young men and women do always use condoms when having sex though, while use of protection at the time of first sex is high, with roughly 90% of people doing so.

However, nearly 30% of men and just over 20% of women who were sexually active claimed to have discontinued contraceptive use entirely when having sex, the ESRI said.

The studies, which draw on data from the 1998 generation of the CSO’s Growing Up in Ireland study collated when the subjects were 20 in 2018, note that just over one third of that cohort had first had sex by the age of 17, with 85% of those involved having done so by the age of 20. 

Young women were significantly more likely to express regret at the timing of their experience than young men.

In terms of a connection between sexual literacy and contraceptive use, the research found that there was little evidence of such an association, with far stronger evidence that peer culture and relationship status are a more reliable indicator of whether or not precautions are being taken.

However, the development of cognitive skills — typified in terms of Leaving Cert grade levels for example — is “significantly related” to sexual health literacy, the studies’ authors said.

“It’s concerning that the message isn’t landing, that it’s not just about STIs but pregnancy as well,” said D r Caroline West, a researcher and lecturer on sexual behaviour of the research’s findings. 

She said a solution is “more holistic sex education, in conjunction with relationship education, to show people what coercion is, and what a healthy relationship looks like”.