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 not only positively affects the lives of men themselves, but also matters for achieving full equality for women and girls.
This report brings together key international research findings along with programme 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.
Key findings of the report indicate that:
- Involved fatherhood helps children thrive
- Involved fatherhood allows women and girls to achieve their full potential – now and in future generations
- Involved fatherhood makes men happier and healthier
- Men’s involvement in caregiving is increasing in some parts of the world, but nowhere does it equal that of women
- Fathers want to spend more time with their children
- Men’s participation and support are urgently needed to ensure that all children are wanted children
- Engaging men – in ways that women want – early on in pre-natal visits, in childbirth, and immediately after the birth of a child can bring lasting benefits
- Promoting fathers’ involvement must include efforts to interrupt the cycle of violence
- Children, women, and men benefit when fathers take parental leave
- Men’s greater involvement in care work also brings economic benefits