Overview
- Equimundo released the State of the World's Fathers 2026 report in June 2026 and concluded that combined economic pressure and inflexible work are pushing families toward a "breaking point".
- Only one in six parents says they have enough time to care for their family and more than four in five report their jobs do not allow flexible hours, which limits fathers' ability to act on growing interest in caregiving.
- About half of surveyed parents say childcare and related expenses consume at least 50 percent of household income, forcing many to reject job opportunities, work extra hours, or take second jobs to cover costs.
- The study finds Mexico has especially low public support, with roughly two in ten fathers and one in ten mothers receiving any government childcare benefit under current programs.
- Researchers and parents across the 16-country survey call for policy changes — paid parental leave, flexible schedules, and affordable childcare — to protect child and parental wellbeing and support labor-force participation, a shift that builds on long-term trends of rising paternal caregiving documented by Pew and OECD data.