Teresa Maneca Lima, Promundo-Europa researcher and Sofia José Santos, Promundo-Europa communication coordinator
Fatherhood is lived today, all over the world, in a different way than it was a few decades ago. A new attitude, guided by greater involvement in family and children's issues, is assumed and desired by many men, fathers and caregivers today.
Although we have not yet reached an ideal scenario of policies and practices that promote positive and involved fatherhood, we can affirm that the role of the father and caregiver is no longer limited to the role of mere provider.
As a consequence of these changes, and seeking to overcome the traditional models of social construction of fatherhood based on the ideological separation of the public and private spheres, the concept of parenthood or parental function emerged, seeking to characterize this new attitude of co-responsibility and sharing in care tasks. Given the changes in the spheres of family relationships, employment patterns, legal configurations and the increasing presence of women in the job market, today's fathers have been taking on more prominent roles in family life, dividing tasks housewives and actively participating in the care provided to their children. Although we are facing non-linear and gradual transformations, which are sometimes consolidated more than desirable at the level of representations and less at the level of practices, for various reasons, we can say that some steps have been taken to go beyond the notion of providing fatherhood, reducing imbalances between professional life and family life.
In Europe, the increase in women's activity and employment rates and the growing number of men taking paternity leave not only constitute clear examples of male roles and practices in managing domestic life, but also represent a path for a progressive sharing of care roles – and this is good news. If we look at the case of paternity leaves, we see that in 2013 it existed in 78 countries (out of 167 with available data), whereas in 1994 it existed in only 40 countries (out of 141 with available data), being mandatory in some, such as Portugal, Italy and Chile, with an increasing number of men taking advantage of this type of leave. Despite the differences observed between the different countries, it is worth highlighting the data referring to Iceland and Sweden where, in 2011, 89 and 77 men for every 100 women, respectively, took paternity leave. Portugal, despite presenting lower values, shows a very positive evolution. In 2009, 18 men for every 100 women took paternity leave, and in 2013 there was a rate of 38 men for every 100 women in 2013. These values demonstrate that as this is a right of the father/caregiver, and a way of living family life fully, normative practices can be effective and essential in changing social practices. However, the current scenario of economic crisis has brought several challenges and appears to be compromising these advances.
With consequences that go beyond the real economy, the economic and financial crisis has contributed to worsening the feeling of insecurity about the future. The lack of available jobs, the increase in unemployment, especially among women, where the unemployment rate reached values of 10.8% in the European Union (28 countries) in 2013 and 16.4% in Portugal, place them in a more vulnerable position to the growing precariousness of markets and more exposed to the risk of poverty, at the same time that they compromise the progress made in terms of gender equality. Likewise, the combination of the postponement of the parenthood project, the emigration of the population of productive and reproductive age and the retraction of the Social State, through the imposition of cuts in public expenditure, could threaten gender equity projects and the inhibition of the use of rights. Not ignoring the increase in the number of men who took advantage of paternity leave, however, there was a reduction in eligibility conditions, especially in the countries most affected by the economic crisis, such as Portugal.
In order to continue moving towards greater equality in family and professional life, and in the recognition of the care roles essential to the well-being of children and the caregivers themselves, there will necessarily have to be an inversion of social and employment policies on the part of of the States that are currently experiencing, in a more pronounced way, the economic crisis that took place a few years ago. It is therefore urgent, in a context of crisis, to prevent setbacks and setbacks that will have a medium and long-term impact on these societies.
¹About the new configurations and roles assigned and expected to men/fathers,
consult, among others, Balancho, Leonor Segurado (2012). Being a father today. Lisboa: Editorial Presença2 In this regard, consult among others Doucet, Andrea (2006) Do men mother? Fathering, care and domestic responsibility. Toronto: University of Toronto Press; Coltrane, Scott (2004) “Fathering: paradoxes, contradictions and dilemmas”, Marilyn Coleman and Lawrence Ganong (eds.) Handbook of contemporary families: Considering the past, contemplating the future. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 224-243.3 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/eurostat/home/4 Addati, Laura et al., (2014) Maternity and paternity at work: Law and practices across the world. Geneva: International Labor Office.5 www.oecd.org/els/social/family/database6 http://www.cite.gov.pt/pt/acite/proteccao01.html7 http://www.pordata.pt/Europa
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