Fatherhood is in transition and being challenged by often contradictory forces: societal mandates to be both an active father and provider, prevailing gender cultures, and the institutional arrangements in which fathers work and live. This book explores these dynamics in the context of cross-national policies and daily child care practices of fathers. It presents the current state of knowledge on father involvement with young children in six countries with unique policies related to parenting in general and support for fathers in particular: Finland, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, the UK, and the USA. These countries have different welfare state regimes, gender regimes, cultures of care and work-family reconciliation policies. This book examines these nations’ fatherhood rights and obligations, fathering practices, and father well-being. Specifically, current research is presented about the nature and extent of fathers’ activities with their young children (birth to entry into elementary school) in the context of demanding workplaces, degree of support via available family policies, and a culture demanding more father involvement. The chapters reflect the extent to which policy and practice are congruent with ideals of the active father who is both provider and nurturer of children in the unique cultural context of a country. The book concludes with a cross-national comparison, a conceptual model of fatherhood regimes, promising fatherhood initiatives, and recommendations for researchers and policy–makers.
The Influence of Connectedness to Nature on Psychological Well-Being: Evidence from the Randomized Controlled Trial Play&Grow
