--- title: Birth Control: Condom Use Is Growing Among Men description: A new report shows that few Americans use condoms but there's been an increase among men. canonical: https://time.com/4893605/latex-condom-birth-control/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-10T04:01:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:55:21.679Z article:section: Health og:title: 14% More Men Are Using Condoms: Study og:description: A new report shows that few Americans use condoms but there's been an increase among men. og:url: https://time.com/4893605/latex-condom-birth-control/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc95ff195039e0a2a/6987788d06f2c104f33333f0/condom-sex-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: TIME.com stock photos Condoms Sex og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 14% More Men Are Using Condoms: Study twitter:description: A new report shows that few Americans use condoms but there's been an increase among men. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc95ff195039e0a2a/6987788d06f2c104f33333f0/condom-sex-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 14% More Men Are Using Condoms: Study > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=a8ce890f-64e6-4815-b80b-ee8b60c10270&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 10, 2017 4:01 AM UTC  Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 10, 2017 4:01 AM UTC Condoms are one of the best ways to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, but they are [not an especially well-used form of birth control in the United States](http://time.com/20255/study-committed-couples-use-condoms-less-often/). However, new data indicates that 34% of men are using them, which is 14% more than in the past. A new report from the [National Center for Health Statistics](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/index.htm) polled more than 20,000 15-44 year olds; about 24% of women and 34% of men said they used a condom the last time they had sex. The data, which was the latest available, encapsulated the years 2011-2015. While those numbers remain low, that’s an increase for men. In 2002, just 29.5% said they used condoms. Condom use among women has remained consistent. **MORE:** [See How Every Form of Birth Control Actually Works](http://time.com/4108686/birth-control-methods-how-work/) Less than 20% of women and men said they use a condom every time they have sex, and the rate of consistent use decreases with age. Close to 60% of women and 47% of men said they didn’t use a condom in the last year. Not surprisingly, using condoms is less likely when men and women are in committed relationships. Even when people do use condoms, it doesn’t always go smoothly. Of those who said they used a condom in the last four weeks, more than 29% said they had a problem with it or it wasn’t used correctly. The researchers asked women if the condom ever broke or fell off during intercourse, and if the condom was ever used only part of the time during sex. Close to 26% said the condom wasn’t used the entire duration of sex, and 6.5% of women said the condom fell off or broke. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4893605/latex-condom-birth-control/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4893605/latex-condom-birth-control/"},"headline":"14% More Men Are Using Condoms: Study","datePublished":"2017-08-10T04:01:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:55:21.679Z","description":"A new report shows that few Americans use condoms but there's been an increase among men.","url":"https://time.com/4893605/latex-condom-birth-control/","keywords":["Birth Control","Sex","contraception","Sexual Health","Reproductive Health","condoms","Sex/Relationships"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc95ff195039e0a2a/6987788d06f2c104f33333f0/condom-sex-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc95ff195039e0a2a/6987788d06f2c104f33333f0/condom-sex-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TIME.com stock photos Condoms Sex","caption":"TIME.com stock photos Condoms Sex","creditText":"Elizabeth Renstrom for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/birth-control/","name":"Birth Control"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4893605/latex-condom-birth-control/","name":"14% More Men Are Using Condoms: Study"}}]}] ```