Men around the world are eager to increase their caring responsibilities at home, but ingrained social expectations and a lack of support are discouraging them from doing so, according to a new report.
According to a new report, men are willing to increase their caring responsibilities at home, but societal biases and lack of support are hindering this progress.
The State of the World’s Fathers report reveals that in 16 out of 17 countries surveyed, 70% to 90% of men feel equally responsible for care work as their partner However, in some countries, women still perform up to seven times more unpaid care work.
Taveeshi Gupta, the Director of Research, Evaluation, and Learning at Equimundo, based in the United States, stated, “Our findings show what we already suspected: men like to care, men want to care,” said Taveeshi Gupta, the director of research, evaluation and learning at the US-based NGO Equimundo, which published the report on Tuesday. “There is a high degree of desire to be involved in a variety of care tasks, for example childcare. While women are doing more hours of care in all 17 countries we surveyed – men are now self-reporting more hours of care than before.”
The research involved surveying approximately 12,000 men and women in countries such as Colombia, Rwanda, South Africa, Australia, Ireland, China, and the United States. The report revealed that globally, men only dedicate 19% of their leisure time to unpaid work, while this figure is 55% for women.
According to the report, men who wish to increase their domestic workload are hindered by social structures.
Gary Barker, the CEO of Equimundo, stated “On average, men’s salaries around the world are a fifth higher than women’s. Many household’s will make the decision that the man’s paid work brings more into the household.”
The importance of equal parental leave
One of the key policies suggested by the report is equal parental leave.
Barker said, “We don’t want to see women’s leave reduced, instead we want men’s leave to be extended. In countries where parental leave is transferable – where either parent can claim it – men never claim the same amount of leave as women.”
While 85% of the surveyed fathers believe that taking paid care leave would benefit their partners and children, many of them face obstacles both at work and in society.
Of the surveyed parents who did not use all of the offered parental leave, 40% cited the fear of losing their jobs as the reason, 36% mentioned unsupportive managers, and 18% expressed concerns about being judged by friends and family.
“We need days offered to men to equal those offered to women,” Barke said. “But we also need the mechanisms to promote it, to show men that they won’t face repercussions for claiming it because all their bosses and managers are also going on leave.”
More than 80% of those surveyed believe boys should be taught how to do household chores and care work during childhood.
Source: Guardian