WHY DONT MORE YOUNG MEN IN THE UK BECOME FATHERS

Objective - This paper aims to show that, compared with young women, t here is an apparent discrepancy in the reported sexual behaviour of yo ung men and records of their fatherhood. Design - The data come from f our studies of the sexual behaviour of young people in various parts o f Britain between 1960 and 1990 and from statistics published by the O ffice of Population Censuses and Surveys. Main results - More of the y oung men than the young women had been sexually active, and the men ha d had more sexual partners. Relatively few men under 20, however, are identified as fathers. In 1991 there were 52396 live births to women u nder 20 Sears, but only 12959 births were attributed to men under 20, and if all those to women under 20 for which the father was not identi fied are added to this, the total is still only 28208 - 54% of the num ber of births to women of that age. Seven possible reasons for the dis crepancy are discussed. Data suggest that the two most probable explan ations are that there are different patterns of intercourse among youn g men and women and that the data obtained in surveys are to some exte nt inaccurate or biased. Conclusions - Differing behaviours indicate a double standard for men and women. Imperfect information affects pred ictions about a potential heterosexual HIV epidemic.