Men's Health and Society - National Research Report (III): Responsibility for Family Planning

V. Responsibilities for Family Planning

Implementing the national family planning policy is a shared responsibility of both men and women. However, in terms of actual contraceptive responsibilities, husbands reported that 86% of the responsibility falls primarily on their wives, with no significant difference between urban and rural areas. Regrettably, even fewer young men under 30 years old take on contraceptive responsibilities, while men with college degrees or above seem to have a stronger sense of equality regarding the "obligation of both spouses to practice family planning," although their participation rate is still less than 20%.

Analysis of the reasons why men shift the responsibility for contraception to women revealed that only 2% of respondents were unaware that men could also take contraceptive measures, 17% admitted that they were afraid of affecting their health, and the majority (78%) explained it by saying, "It is usually the woman who takes the precautions, so we do too." This shows that "assigning" the responsibility for contraception and the risks of birth control to women has become a social consensus and a deeply rooted custom.

VI. Analysis of Factors Affecting Physical and Mental Health

Since physical and mental health encompasses a broad range of aspects including physical, psychological, and social adaptation, we first used factor analysis to simplify the nine relevant variables into two composite factors (oblique axis of rotation), which explained 56.4% of the total variance of all variables. We then used the variance contribution rate of each factor as a weight to calculate the weighted sum of the estimated scores of the two factors, i.e., the composite score of physical and mental health, as the dependent variable. The higher the score, the worse the physical and mental health or the more negative feelings one has.

We established a regression model to analyze the multivariate factors influencing men's physical and mental health, using respondents' self-evaluation of their physical and mental health as the dependent variable, and 19 indicators across five dimensions-demographic characteristics, health awareness, social environment and security, social adaptation and support, and family quality of life-as independent variables. For comparison, we also established the same regression model in Model II using female data. The results show that most explanatory variables had the expected positive or negative impacts on respondents' physical and mental health, with a combined explanatory power of 26% for both Model I and Model II.

After excluding the influence of other independent variables, the regression analysis model showed the following main results:

1. The physical and mental health of older men, men with less education, men who are laid off/unemployed/retired, or men from single-parent families is generally poorer, while the health of married men is the best confirmed.

2. Health awareness helps prevent disease and improve physical fitness. However, delaying treatment when ill poses a significant threat to men's physical and mental health (standardized regression coefficient is 0.130). The positive effects of physical exercise have not been supported, mainly because many young and middle-aged men, despite understanding the importance of exercise, find it difficult to actively engage in it due to their busy schedules and time constraints. The lack of community activity venues also restricts some people from participating in exercise, and the economic costs of fitness clubs are not low. Therefore, not many people regularly participate in physical exercise.

3. The role of social environment and social security in men's physical and mental health cannot be ignored. For example, respondents who have experienced social discrimination or infringement of their personal rights have a lower evaluation of their physical and mental health. Due to the imperfection of the social security system, especially the reform of medical security and welfare system during the social transition period, the health level of some economically disadvantaged individuals who do not receive due social security or relief is declining. However, the hypothesis that harmful working environments such as high temperature, noise, chemical toxins, smoke/dust/electromagnetic radiation pose a threat to men's health has not been confirmed. This may be because the severity of the above-mentioned adverse environments is not yet serious or the survey has the defect of not clarifying the severity. In addition, some people may not be aware of the harmful working environment. Furthermore, those who are retired, laid off, or otherwise unemployed are currently treated as having no adverse health environmental factors.

4. The positive impact of social adaptation and support on men's health is also supported in the explanatory model. An individual's ability and self-confidence can help them cope with adverse situations through a positive mindset and improve their self-perception and evaluation (Beta=0.130, Sig.=0.000). Necessary psychological, legal and economic assistance and support from the workplace, community and relatives and friends also have a positive impact on the individual's physical and mental health.

5. The spiritual/cultural aspects of family, the quality of material life, and the satisfaction with one's family status have a significant positive impact on men's physical and mental health.

6. Interestingly, Models I and II show two different outcomes (other outcomes are generally consistent in direction and significance). First, married men have a slightly better health than unmarried men, while there is no significant difference between married and unmarried women. International research also indicates that married men, compared to single men, are more likely to obtain higher positions and salaries, are more likely to succeed in their careers, have better physical and mental health, may live longer, and are likely to have happier lives; while married women, compared to single women, are more prone to depression, neurosis, and other mental illnesses. Second, harmful factors in the work environment have a greater impact on women's physical and mental health. Although the Beta value is not high due to the same research methods used for the impact on men, this finding suggests that occupational protection for female employees is clearly more important.