Chile is one of the last countries in the world that has not legalized divorce. A law permits marital separation under certain conditions, but it does not terminate the conjugal bond. contempt the Catholic hierarchy's opposition to the legalization of divorce, at least half of all Chileans apparently favor enacting such a law. In the 1990 CEP-Adimark survey, 55.6 % of those interviewed were in favor of legal divorce.

Birth control methods of all types find broad acceptance among the population. This is true even of practicing Catholics, 81.3 % of whom found their use acceptable. National health programs have facilitated access to birth control since the 1960s, and the use of contraceptives is widespread. these programs offer easy access to birth control only to women who have already had at least one child because the programs are mainly organized to offer prenatal and postpartum primary care. Birth control is therefore more difficult to obtain for childless women, particularly younger and poorer women. The number of births in wedlock has fallen almost by half since the initiation of the contraception programs, while the births out of wedlock have remained fairly constant. This means that currently a third of all births are out of wedlock, up from 17.4 % in 1965.

Premarital sex among couples in love with each other is also broadly accepted, except among practicing Protestants, only 40 % of whom approved, and among those age fifty-five and older, only 39 % of whom approved. Sixty-three % of practicing Catholics accepted this practice, contempt the strong disapproval of the church hierarchy. On this issue, practicing Protestants again are closer to the Catholic hierarchy's teachings than are lay Catholics themselves. The acceptance of premarital relations compounds the problems caused by the comparatively more difficult access to birth control for childless women.