We must move towards gender equity when it comes to care. Here's why

With the launch of the latest Global Gender Gap report, there is some room to celebrate, but not much.

The march towards equality continues to be stalled, in large part because of care inequality. Women carry out nearly three times more of the daily care of children, homes and the elderly than men. While the care economy is getting increased attention, this part is often forgotten. Getting to full economic and political equality for women and girls requires men and boys to do their share of the care work and to be advocates for the care economy.

When it comes to men’s caregiving, change is happening but not fast enough. The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law Report 2024 found that seven countries introduced 15 policy changes to support parents, including five countries that approved paternity leave for the first time. Data from Equimundo’s 2023 State of the World’s Fathers, with survey data from 17 countries, found that both men and women report that men are doing more care work than in the past, but no country in the world has achieved equality when it comes to daily time spent.

One of the challenges continues to be the lack of adequate leave for fathers. While more countries are offering paternity leave, as of 2022, 186 countries offered national leave for mothers, compared to 122 countries that offered nationally mandated leave for fathers. And, when leave is offered for fathers, they get on average 22.5 days compared to 192.3 days for mothers.

Unlike maternity leave, there is no global legal instrument or global benchmark of how much paternity leave is needed. MenCare, the global advocacy campaign on men’s caregiving (that my organization coordinates), advocates for a minimum of 16 weeks individual, fully paid and non-transferable days for male and female caregivers (and non-binary parents, adoptive or biological).

Even when leave is offered and available for fathers, men’s take up or use of leave is far less than women's, in large part because men believe their paid work and career trajectories will be negatively affected if they take too much leave or all their leave. It’s a valid concern: data has long shown how women’s wages and workforce participation suffer when they take leave. Men are rational when assessing that they may lose out financially by taking too much leave, even when leave is offered.

This last challenge points to the need for a narrative shift, for workplace adjustments, training and conversations about how all workers – male and female – should be supported in being caregivers. Some multinational companies are stepping into the space – making clear their support to workers to take their leave and to feel assured in their job stability and long-term promotion prospects when they take leave. There are also organizations, such as Lifeed, that offer training and support to workers and employers on reducing the disruption that parental leave can bring, while also helping workers and employers develop long-term strategies to support all their workers in their care duties.

Apart from policy advances, we also need healthcare systems that offer parent training and conversations in schools and the media that discuss how boys and men can see caregiving as their responsibility too. And, we need global goals – putting into policy objectives, the target of men and boys doing half of the global care work. We also need more men working alongside women as advocates for the care economy. The US Dads Congressional Caucus, made up of more than 30 members of the US House of Representatives, is an example of male policymakers putting the care economy at the top of their legislative agenda.

The other key aspect is getting men in the general public to vote like caregivers. Research from Equimundo finds that internationally men are as likely to prioritize their support for care policies – child care subsidies, income support to the poorest families and paid leave – nearly as much as women. In a recent US survey on the topic, more than 80% of men and women across income groups, ethnicities and even political parties, supported basic care policies, including expanded parental leave and subsidized child care.

The conversation on care equality often comes across as preaching to men and too easily turns to defensiveness. While we must call out the gap in care work and care policies, we should also recognize the dividend in well-being that men get in care. A US survey found that 85% of fathers report that being involved caregivers is one of the most important things in their lives.

Similarly, sample data from 17 countries found that men and women who say they were satisfied with how involved they were in caring for their children were 1.5 times more likely to say they are the person they wanted to be.

The bottom line is that men’s caregiving pays forward in women’s workforce participation, in gender equality and in men’s happiness and well-being. While we need the national policies, the workplace programmes and the narrative and social norm shifts, we also need to acknowledge men’s stake in lives that allow them to care and be cared for as fundamental components of who we are as humans and what we need to thrive.