National Needs of Family Planning Among US Men Aged 15 to 44 Years

To estimate national need for family planning services among men in the United States according to background characteristics, access to care, receipt of services, and contraception use.

We used weighted data from the 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth to estimate the percentage of men aged 15 to 44 years (n = 10 395) in need of family planning, based on sexual behavior, fecundity, and not trying to get pregnant with his partner.

Overall, 60% of men were in need of family planning, defined as those who ever had vaginal sex, were fecund, and had fecund partner(s) who were not trying to get pregnant with partner or partner(s) were not currently pregnant. The greatest need was among young and unmarried men. Most men in need of family planning had access to care, but few reported receiving family planning services (< 19%), consistently using condoms (26%), or having partners consistently using contraception (41%).

The need for engaging men aged 15 to 44 years in family planning education and care is substantial and largely unmet despite national public health priorities to include men in reducing unintended pregnancies.