Between January 2016 and July 2024, more than 1.2 million. The data represents 5.2% of the 23.1 million births in the period and points to something recurring:, it is uneven responsibilities in care and a state that recognizes the father only when there is recorded debt.
Even when the name is in the certificate, everyday participation is usually limited. And public policy contributes little to changing this framework. A, five days, covers a little more than legal procedures. Early childhood programs rarely treat the father as a subject of politics. The result is a cultural absence reinforced by institutional omission. These are not just parents who move away, but services that, in many cases, do not systematically include them.
This does not mean that public policies should shape behaviors or impose. But there is evidence that it tends to consolidate when there are minimum conditions for it.
In Rwanda, an experiment with about 1,000 poverty families evaluated the effects of home intervention. The program consisted of weekly visits by trained community agents, who encouraged sensitive care practices and explicitly involved parents in activities with small children.
The initiative, adapted to rural contexts in which the father is often seen as a provider, resulted in increased paternal participation in daily life, reduced use of physical punishments and improved language and cognitive stimulus. There was also a drop in conflicts between caregivers and in the symptoms of reported by fathers and mothers. The study was conducted by Theresa Betancourt and collaborators.
Nos, another experiment tested the impact of simple changes on existing home visitation services. Care teams were trained to include parents more actively in interactions, with an emphasis on dialogue between caregivers and strengthening the coparentality. The results showed that when contact with the father began after the birth of the baby, there was greater adherence to the program, improved support between parents and estimated reduction in the risk of the first year. The study, led by Jay Fagan and colleagues, shows how the moment and the form of the approach influence paternal engagement.
In a third study, conducted with employees of a technology company in the US, the researchers evaluated the effects of a set of changes in the workplace. The intervention involved training of managers to deal with family demands and flexibility of time control, giving workers more autonomy about the organization of their routines. Parents who participated in the program spent an average of 39 minutes more a day with their children. In the control group, time fell 24 minutes. The hours worked and productivity indicators did not change. The experiment, conducted by Erin Kelly and Phyllis Moen, demonstrates that even modest institutional adjustments can expand family life.
This evidence indicates that not only depends on individual will. It also responds to the way care is welcomed, facilitated or discouraged by the institutions. Where there is a clear invitation and minimal structure, men participate more. And this participation has measurable effects on mothers, children and the father himself.
Brazil is still far from a policy that treats the father as part of care from the beginning. But there are possible ways., Training professionals to include parents in family interactions and testing affordable parenting support formats such as online courses or text messages are measured with empirical base. None of them solve the problem by themselves, but they all expand the field of possibilities.
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