Research shows that a majority of Fathers would be willing to choose family over career.
The State of the World’s Fathers Ireland report is to be launched by the Men’s Development Network and Treoir at a public event in the EPIC Centre Dublin on Friday 16th of June at 10 AM. This research is part of a larger, global project entitled ‘State of the World’s Fathers’ which has run every 2 years since 2015. This is the first time Irish data has been included. Globally this round of the survey was answered by 12,511 people in 17 countries.
The research has found that caring for children brought joy to parents with 84% of men and 81% of women saying that caring for their children is the most important thing they had done in their lives.
Over two-thirds of men and three-quarters of women surveyed said would give up career opportunities to care for children while 69% of men and 78% of women stated that they would be prepared to work part-time to care for their children.
The research has also found that Men are taking their care and household responsibilities seriously with 82% stating that they share caring responsibilities equally and 86% stating that they feel as responsible for care work as their partners.
Despite this, men still lag behind women on hours spent and on average women spend one hour and 18 minutes more per day on unpaid care and domestic work than men do.
Speaking in advance of the launch of the report Séan Cooke CEO of Men’s Development Network said ‘the significant shift in Fathers attitudes and the value placed on care presents real opportunities to address the barriers that prevent gender equality. Fathers can promote the value of care and model this behaviour for the next generation. Although still a long way to go, the Irish and global research shows major advances have been made and now is the time to consolidate this progress’.
CEO of Treoir Damien Peelo also welcomed the collaboration between The Men’s Development Network and Treoir saying ‘We are delighted to work together on what is a timely contribution to forthcoming discussions on a constitutional referendum on Article 41.2. For both organisations this work confirms what we encounter on a daily basis, that many fathers want to be active in caring for their children, that they want to take time out from their careers or work part time and be considered as “a go to” person if their child needs a parent during the working day’.
The research report is available on www.mensnetwork.ie, to register for the launch event https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/research-presentation-on-state-of-the-worlds-fathers-ireland-tickets-652863401007 For more information on the report please contact report author Dr Kenny Doyle, kenny@mensnetwork.ie End Word count 350