The Gendered Division of Sterilization “Fertility Work:” The Role of Educational and Racial/Ethnic Heterogamy

Abstract

Drawing on data from the 2006 to 2010 and 2011 to 2013 rounds of the National Survey of Family Growth, this study examines the division of sterilization “fertility work” among couples who have completed intended childbearing. Results show that use of female versus male sterilization varies by couples’ racial/ethnic composition, but not by couples’ educational composition. Couples in which the man is non-Hispanic White and the woman is of minority background were found to have an increased likelihood of relying on male versus female sterilization. This finding supports the gender perspective, as it shows the male partner to be most willing to participate in sterilization “fertility work” when he is a member of the dominant racial/ethnic group and his partner is of minority background.