Over half of men say they don’t benefit from a woman's access to free contraception

Over half of men say they have "not personally benefited" from a woman having free access to birth control, according to a new US study.

The study, conducted by Washington-based public opinion research firm PerryUndem, surveyed over 1,000 people about contraceptives through a gender lens.

It found that 52 per cent of the men said they have nothing to gain from women in their life having access to free contraception.

The highest demographic to say 'no' were men aged 60 and over.

Birth control is estimated to account for more than 30 per cent of the increase in the number women in skilled careers from 1970 to 1990.

According to a Planned Parenthood fact sheet, "Being able to get the pill before age 21 has been found to be the most influential factor in enabling women already in college to stay in college".

In addition to stopping unwanted pregnancy, birth control also stops the spread of infection, controls hormones and according to the study, plays a major role in equal treatment for women.

The same study found that while around seven in 10 women say access to affordable birth control is an important part of gender equality, the same proportion (around 76 per cent) of men said that they should be able to have sex for the purpose of pleasure, without having to worry about getting someone pregnant.

Some 1.34 million women accessed sexual and reproductive health services each year in the UK, while currently, 75 percent of women aged 16-49 years use some type of contraception.