Men and their roles regarding sex, contraception, childbearing and childrearing

Ladislav Rabusic, Masaryk University
Beatrice Chromková Manea, Masaryk University

Past fertility studies have mainly focused on surveys of women, while little attention has been paid to the role of adult men in reproduction and family formation. On the basis of a review of previous study carried out in the United States in 1991 – National Survey of Men – the present paper illustrates men's roles in sexual life, contraceptive decisions, childbearing and childrearing in the Czech Republic. Drawing from a new study on men (fieldwork is scheduled to take place in October-November 2011 on a nationally representative sample of Czech men aged 40-55 and their female partners), this work examines the perceptions men have on their roles regarding sex, contraception, childbearing and childrearing in a gender comparative perspective. We hypothesize that the roles and responsibilities regarding sex, contraception and children are gendered – men play a more important role in decision regarding sex, while women take more responsibility for contraception and childbearing. We also argue that the socio-demographic characteristics of each partner and also couple interaction shape the perceptions men have with regard to these issues.