The report states that 43 percent of men who responded to the survey agree that they feel as responsible for caregiving tasks as their respective partners, but only 61 percent of women said they feel the same about the distribution of caregiving tasks of their male counterparts.

“There may be an over-evaluation of men regarding co-responsibility and they may think they are participating more when it comes to caregiving tasks than they actually are”, researcher Tatiana Moura, one of the authors of “A Sitação da Paternidade e do Cuiidado em Portugal 2023”, told the Lusa agency.

The report has been presented on December 16, at the Faculdade de Economia of the University of Coimbra, during the first “Masculinidades em Perspetiva”, organised by Men Talks, in partnership with the Observatório das Masculinidades (from CES) and the students with a master’s in international relations and sociology at the faculty.

The survey was carried out between February and May, developed by Equimundo – Center for Masculinities and Social Justice (from the United States), which releases a report every two years, including Portugal in the countries analysed this year.

The total number of people surveyed was 809 and “despite not representing the national population”, it allows for an idea of the evolution of fatherhood and care in the country, pointed out Tatiana Moura.

Although there seems to be a certain perception of the role of men regarding the distribution of tasks at home, the coordinator of the Observatório das Masculinidades calls attention to the results that point to “an evolution” in the “will” of men when it comes to participating in domestic tasks.

“A few years ago men wouldn’t even say they have the will to put in time for tasks at home. There is a social construct on masculinity nowadays, which compared to the 40’s is completely different, with men showing a desire to take on more caregiving tasks and more wanting to spend more time with their children”, the coordinator stated.

In addition to the gap between how women and men surveyed feel about the distribution of caregiving tasks, the study also notes that women end up dedicating more hours a day to caring for their children and cleaning tasks.

In the case of childcare, 21 percent of women report that they dedicate more than six hours a day to these tasks, compared to 7 percent of men, with the majority of fathers reporting that they dedicate between one and two hours a day to the same tasks, noted the researcher.

Tatiana Moura highlighted that the majority of mothers and fathers (73 percent and 79 percent respectively) reported not having time to care for their children, justifying this with the “very heavy workload” of everyday life outside their homes.

The survey also focuses on the use of parental leave in the country, which presented “a large percentage that does not take advantage of the leave”, due to reasons such as the fear of losing their job or not progressing in their career, as well as the fact that the leave is not financially covered 100 percent.

Regarding the care for elderly or disabled people, 75 percent of respondents said they do not have the time to provide this care.