ABSTRACT
Changing fatherhood practices, perceptions and ideals have attracted increasing interest from social science scholars in recent decades. This attention is motivated by important social changes that have occurred in many European countries, such as the increasing number of women and mothers entering the labour market and the growing number of working single parents and dual-income families. Fathering practices are not homogenous in Europe: several country-level factors can influence them, including social norms and attitudes as well as parental policies such as shared parental leave and/or father quota provisions that can make it possible and even desirable for fathers to stay at home with their children. Taking into consideration the changes over time is also important, because in some European countries fathers’ involvement in childcare started earlier and was more intensive than in other places.
