А new report on "The State of the World's Fathers" recently released. This report gives insight into the challenges we face across the globe to encouraging father involvement.

Fathers matter. Father–child relationships, in all communities and at all stages of a child’s life, have profound and wide-ranging impacts on children that last a lifetime, whether these relationships are positive, negative, or lacking. Men’s participation as fathers and as caregivers also matters tremendously for women’s lives. And, it positively affects the lives of men themselves.

Approximately 80 percent of men will become biological fathers at some point in their lives, and virtually all men have some connection to children – as relatives, as teachers, as coaches, or simply as community members. Whether they are biological fathers, stepfathers, adoptive or foster fathers, or legal guardians; whether they are brothers, uncles, or grandfathers; whether they are in same-sex or opposite-sex relationships; and whether they live with their children or not, men’s participation in the daily care of others has a lasting influence on the lives of children, women, and men, and an enduring impact on the world around them.

Massive changes in the workplace and in households are bringing changes to men’s participation as caregivers – that is, the state of the world’s fathers is changing. Yet, men’s involvement  in caregiving has too often been missing from public policies, from systematic data collection and research, and from efforts to promote women’s empowerment.

This first ever State of the World’s Fathers report brings together key international research findings along with program and policy examples related to men’s participation in caregiving; in sexual and reproductive health and rights; in maternal, newborn, and child health; in violence and violence prevention; and in child development.

State of the World’s Fathers has the potential to put some of the most exciting and farthest-reaching changes happening in the lives of men and women around the world into the public eye and onto the public agenda. The move toward more involved fatherhood and equitable caregiving must be supported as part of a wider agenda to challenge the structures and ideologies that restrict us all from developing as full human beings in a more just and equal society.

Key Findings

Involved fatherhood helps children thrive. As men take on more caregiving, research increasingly confirms that fathers’ involvement affects children in much the same ways that mothers’ involvement does. Fathers’ involvement has been linked to higher cognitive development and school achievement, better mental health for boys and girls, and lower rates of delinquency in sons. Studies in multiple countries have shown that fathers’ interaction is important for the development of empathy and social skills in sons and daughters.

Involved fatherhood allows women and girls to achieve their full potential – now and in future generations. Globally,  women earn on average 24 percent less than men do, in large part due to their greater burden of care work. By sharing the caregiving and domestic work, men support women’s participation in the workforce and women’s equality overall. Involved fatherhood also carries forward across generations: it has been shown to contribute to boys’ acceptance of gender equality and to girls’ sense of autonomy and empowerment. Research finds that daughters with fathers who share domestic chores equally are more likely to aspire to less traditional and potentially higher-paying jobs. Data from multi-country studies find that men who have seen their own fathers engage in domestic work are themselves more likely to be involved in household work and caregiving as adults.

Involved fatherhood makes men happier and healthier. Men who are involved in meaningful ways with their children report this relationship to be one of their most important sources of well-being and happiness. Studies find that fathers who report close, non-violent connections with their children live longer, have fewer mental or physical health problems, are less likely to abuse drugs, are more productive at work, and report being happier than fathers who do not report this connection with their children.

Men’s involvement in caregiving is increasing in some parts of the world, but nowhere does it equal that of women. Women now make up 40 percent of the global formal workforce, yet they also continue to perform two to 10 times more caregiving and domestic work than men do. Research on time use shows that, as women have taken on more responsibility outside of the home, particularly in the labor force, men’s participation in care work and domestic work has for the most part not kept up. A study of trends in men’s participation between 1965 and 2003 across 20 countries found an average increase of six hours per week in employed married men’s contribution to housework and childcare. Still, men’s contribution did not exceed 37 percent of women’s contribution in any of these countries.

Fathers want to spend more time with their children. Many fathers around the world say they want to be more involved in the lives of their children. Data from the International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) show that most fathers (ranging from 61 percent in Croatia to 77 percent in Chile) report that they would work less if it meant that they could spend more time with their children. In the United States, one survey found that 46 percent of fathers said they were not spending enough time with their children, compared with 23 percent of mothers.

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