Women are twice as likely to get their tubes tied than men are to get the snip, even though tubal ligation is more invasive, riskier and harder to reverse. It’s time men step up
American men have come a long way, baby. They spend more time with their kids than ever before. Most of them say they want egalitarian marriages and better work-life balance. Two-thirds of married fathers have a wife who works outside the home and contributes to the family income, and about four in 10 of those men have a wife who outearns them. So why, when it comes to family planning, are women doing all the work and men doing so little? To put a finer point on it: why don’t more American men get vasectomies?
The contraception gap is one of the most striking and persistent gender inequities. While close to 100% of American women take steps, at some point in their lives, to prevent pregnancy, the vast majority of them shoulder that burden alone. Fewer than one in 10 relied on condom use – a contraceptive method that requires men to take action. And only about one in 10 married or coupled men have had a vasectomy – the rate for single men is far lower.