Premarital sex in Costa Rica: incidence, trends and determinants

Abstract

A hazards model using retrospective data from a national sample of Costa Rican women aged 15-24 interviewed in 1986 indicates that every year approximately 10 percent of women aged 17-19—the peak ages for the initiation of premarital sexual activity—become sexually active. The cumulative proportion of women who have had premarital sex by their 20th birthday is 38 percent. The data fail to support the popular belief that premarital sexual activity has increased among younger cohorts: The younger cohorts of women tended to have a lower risk of premarital sexual activity than the older cohorts. Education reduces the risk of premarital sex, whereas being engaged to marry increases this risk sharply. Women in communities with large proportions of consensual unions tend to have an increased likelihood of premarital sex, and the restraining effects of education tend to be weakened.