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Prenups get a bad rep. Often, people assume that the signing of a prenuptial agreement means you don’t have faith in your relationship and are expecting to break up. In actuality, they are intended to protect both spouses, ensuring fairness and providing clarity should you ever get divorced.

As content creator Abby Eckel pointed out, although men often insist they get the short end of the stick during divorce, most still don’t push for a prenup. She questioned why that is, and content creator J.R. Minton came through with an answer.

He explained why most men aren’t interested in getting prenups.

In Eckel’s video, she said that she’s heard countless stories from men claiming that going through a divorce caused them to lose all of their money, their house, and the rights to their kids, leaving them in “financial ruins.” Yet she questioned why more men aren’t choosing to have prenups, if divorce is so risky.

“If they’re under the belief that they will get taken for everything they have in the event of a divorce, and their odds are 50/50, there’s a 50% chance that you’re gonna get a divorce, why are you not asking for a prenup?” she questioned. “If you feel like you have so much to lose in the event of a divorce, why are you not protecting yourself?”

To answer her question, Minton stitched Eckel’s video. He explained that outside of the entertainment industry and Hollywood, men are more likely to be successful when they’re married, and women are expected to be more successful when they’re single. Because of this, Minton observed that marriage only tends to benefit men.

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He claimed that most men don’t have much before they get married, so a prenup seems unnecessary.

“Whenever a child is born, a woman is typically the person (who) takes off time to take care of the child,” Minton said. “And if there’s a stay-at-home parent, most often it’s going to be a woman.”

He’s not wrong. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that, in 2023, 26% of mothers were stay-at-home parents, compared to just 7% of fathers. And while most men think it’s a privilege for a woman to stay home with their kids, it’s a huge financial risk. She is solely dependent on her husband to be successful, and is unable to further her career or build savings of her own.

“Men, on the other hand, get the social benefit of saying that they are married and having the support of a spouse and having the support of someone who will take care of his children while he is able to just thrive and work and further his own career,” he said. “So, how come men don’t want a prenup for their marriage? Most men don’t have very much before they get married; they become successful after the marriage.”

Marriage really does benefit men financially. According to a recent study titled “Men & Marriage: Debunking the Ball and Chain Myth,” “Married men typically work harder, smarter, and more successfully. They are less likely to be fired. And they make about $16,000 more than their single peers with otherwise similar backgrounds.”

“This is what economists call men’s ‘marriage premium,'” they added. “Married men earn between 10 and 40% more than otherwise comparable single men.”

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Only a small percentage of married couples sign a prenup.

According to a 2022 survey from Harris Poll15% of married or engaged respondents had signed a prenup, up from just 3% in 2010. This seemingly shows that couples are starting to view documents like a prenup as something necessary instead of a foreshadowing of eventual divorce.

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Still, for the most part, prenups continue to remain taboo. In an interview with LawDepotattorney Christina Previte explained, “I think the major reason prenups are underused is for one reason: couples avoid hard conversations. It’s not easy to talk about. And when the love blinders are on, no one wants to bring up a difficult topic.”

Of the people they surveyed, 85% reported never having signed a prenup. However, among married couples, 29% reported regretting not signing one, and women (33%) tended to regret not having a prenup at a higher rate than men (26%).

Just because a couple signs a prenup does not mean that they’re giving up on their marriage or jinxing themselves with a divorce. For most people, a prenup simply means safety. If men, or anyone else, want to lament about the financial risk of marriage and divorce, perhaps they should consider signing one.

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Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.