By Tatiana Moura (director of Promundo – Brazil) and Sofia José Santos (Promundo – Europe)
Today marks and intends to celebrate, in some countries around the world, Father's Day, a date that, despite being institutionalized in 1910, by the USA, only a few years ago means the celebration of care and advances in the right to exercise of paternities. In fact, since the institutionalization of the celebration, the roles played by parents and the expectations regarding them have undergone several changes.
If in the 1970s, in the USA, parents dedicated just 15 minutes of their day to caring for their sons and daughters, from 2000 onwards, parents began to dedicate close to two hours of their day to these same tasks. We are therefore talking about an increase of 400% in just one generation. In European countries, there were also increases in the time spent by men on care and domestic tasks. However, this path taken is far from satisfactory. Even in the most advanced countries in terms of equality between men and women, no country has achieved an equal division of care.
Currently, 40% of the workforce in the world is female; however, men are still far from performing the same proportion of care tasks. Approximately four out of every five men will be fathers at some point in their lives and all men have in some way a relationship with children as stepfathers, brothers, uncles, grandparents, teachers, coaches, mentors or simply as friends. Overall, several studies confirm that committed, available and sensitive fatherhood, as well as the active participation of men in children's lives, have positive effects on the lives of these children, women and men themselves. It therefore enhances the prevention of violence, equality between the sexes and the reduction of economic inequalities between men and women.
According to a study carried out by the Promundo Institute and the Fatherhood Institute¹, paternity leave is one of the most effective instruments for directly influencing fathers' behavior, creating the necessary conditions for committed fatherhood, and public recognition of the importance of dedicated fatherhood. to affection and care. Several European countries, together with Canada, risked positive regulatory changes in relation to paternity leave, both in terms of the salary replacement rate and the permitted leave time. Advances in this field are being attempted all over the world.
However, in the midst of a period of economic and financial crisis affecting part of Europe, with subsequent government austerity policies (which include cuts in public spending, increased taxes, reduced labor protection and the retreat of the welfare state) , and with the increase in financial stress that families find themselves immersed in on a daily basis, we are facing the imminence of a clear retreat in the recognition and protection of these rights. In times of financial crisis, avoiding a crisis in affection and care is one of the biggest challenges we face.
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