In the 21st century, the problem of fathers’ participation in children upbringing is relevant for several reasons. From an economic point of view, this is due to the spread of gender equality and increased women’s presence in the labor market. On the other hand, research suggests a significant relationship between the father's complex involvement in child care and the stability of relations between spouses which reflects the importance of this issue in the socio-cultural coordinate system. Our work is devoted to the study of the effects of paternal parenting and barriers to the spread of a new model of positive inclusive fatherhood. Materials of our research include data from foreign studies, the results of a series of interviews in the Republic of Tatarstan and the Vologda Oblast, and the findings of the World Values Survey. Based on the analysis, we have noted the main transformation feature of the fatherhood institution: an increase in the level of “active” involvement in the children upbringing, while a few decades ago it was possible to speak only about a high level of “passive” responsibility (i.e., an actual stay in the same space-time continuum with a child). Including the proven fact of the positive impact of fathers’ involvement on many components of the children’s life trajectories, the revealed trend of transformation of the fatherhood institution suggests qualitatively new shifts in the formation of family-child relations in the future. However, despite positive changes and enormous potential, transformation of the fatherhood institution is probably much slower than it is possible due to the existing barriers and restrictions, mainly related to the preservation of established gender roles in the generations’ memory. Such roles hinder the implementation of individual behavioral strategies within a family – also due to the lack of appropriate competencies. In addition, fathers face institutional barriers that limit not only the functionality of interaction with children, but also the time resources that fathers can use to bring up a child
Keywords
demographic crisis, men, fatherhood practices, generative behavior