According to the State of the World's Fathers report, while 85% of fathers say they would do anything to play a very active role in their newborn's care, their share of the task is still much lower than that of the mother.
50 minutes a day - that's how much more time men would need to devote to caring for children and the home each day to make significant progress on gender equality in unpaid care, reveals the third State of the World's Fathers report, published by Promundo, in collaboration with Unilever's Dove Men+Care as part of the Women Deliver 2019 conference, ahead of Father's Day celebrations in many countries around the world.
A new study carried out in seven countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, the UK and the USA) reveals that 85%* of fathers say they would do anything to play a very active part in the first weeks and months of caring for their newborn or adopted child. So what's stopping them?
The report identifies three main obstacles: (1) the lack of adequate paid paternity leave, and the low extent to which fathers take up this option when such leave is available; (2) restrictive gender norms that present caregiving as the responsibility of women, paralleling the idea that women are more capable of caregiving than men; and (3) a lack of economic security and government support for all parents and caregivers.
The State of the World's Fathers report is produced by Promundo, coordinator of the MenCare: A Global Fatherhood Campaign, which operates in over 50 countries. It reveals new findings from research carried out with Unilever's Dove Men+Care in seven countries and Plan International Canada in four, based on interviews and surveys of nearly 12,000 people. It also includes an analysis of cross-national data from over 30 countries, and proposes recommendations for bridging the unpaid care gap to promote gender equality.
No country in the world has yet achieved equality in unpaid work - or equal pay - between men and women. Progress is incredibly slow. Analysis of time-use data shows that if men spent at least 50 minutes more a day on care (and women 50 minutes less), we'd tip the balance in favor of equality.
"We need to accelerate national commitments to help all children, parents and families thrive, and to ensure that men take on half of the day-to-day activities related to children and the home. Period Anything less will continue to perpetuate the inequalities that women and girls face on a daily basis."
Gary Barker, President and CEO of Promundo
At the conference, Unilever's Dove Men+Care and Promundo also launched a Global Paternity Leave Taskforce, a member-led and member-owned alliance that aims to identify, promote, accelerate and evolve commercially and socially sustainable solutions to improve access to, and uptake of, paternity leave for all men. Women Deliver is a member of the new Paternity Leave Working Group.
"There are marked inequalities in care, and women continue to bear a disproportionate share of unpaid care. As a stakeholder, Women Deliver welcomes access to new evidence as a powerful tool to drive action and change."..." The State of the World's Fathers report provides us with the information we need to promote a more egalitarian world."
Susan Papp, Executive Director of Policy and Advocacy at Women Deliver
The global report calls on countries, employers and civil society to commit to accelerating action and supporting the increased participation of men in unpaid caregiving. The report has been launched alongside the MenCare Commitment, which aims to create an enabling environment for men to take on 50% of unpaid care by 2030. It also encourages fathers to put their caregiving intentions into practice by taking on - at the very least - an extra 50 minutes a day.