The evolution of the socioeconomic gap in fertility among adolescents in Chile

Abstract For research and policy issues, it is very important to measure the evolution of socioeconomic dif-ferences in the adolescent fertility rate over time (AFER) in order to be able to provide a quantita-tive description of such an evolution. By combin-ing well reputed Chilean data, this study com-putes a ratio of AFER (15-17 years-old) between the 30% of the population living in economically worst off areas (the numerator) against the cor-responding 30% better off segment of the popu-lation (the denominator). This ratio of AFER by relative socioeconomic status shows a stable evolution from 1.45 in the year 1990 to 1.10 in 2011. Sexual initiation, whose association with AFER is well established, also shows a dropping ratio, from 1.24 in 1997 to 1.01 in 2012. The size of some dimensions of socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent fertility and sexual initiation has being decreasing between 1990 and 2011. This ex-ercise shows that even in Chile, the most unequal country among the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, there are some improvements in health inequality.Fertility; Sexual Behavior; Adolescent