We write this as fathers, Gary of a daughter, Richard of three sons.  We also write this as researchers and advocates observing one of the largest and unsung changes happening in our homes and workplaces: men leaning into fatherhood.

Equimundo (which Gary leads) has carried out the State of the World’s Father report every two years since 2015, asking women and men around the world about their caregiving practices. The new report, with data from 16 countries, including the U.S., finds that more than two in three mothers (69%) say that their male partners share caregiving equally with them.

This echoes work from the American Institute for Boys and Men (which Richard leads) showing a significant increase in the amount of parenting being done by American fathers, of all races and classes.

So, Dads are stepping up in a big way. But families are still struggling to balance their need for income and their desire to care. Many parents are financially stretched to the breaking point. Nearly one in three households in the international data depends on a single income. Half of all parents across the countries say caregiving costs at least half their income. Additionally, 27% of fathers and 42% of mothers report being financially insecure, unable to meet regular expenses or are in debt because of care costs.

Four in 10 parents say they are trapped in precarious jobs because they need something—anything—to meet care needs. One in four fathers has refinanced their homes to pay for care. In interviews across the participating countries, parents relate these daily strains.

A mother in Canada said: “I feel like I’ve spent 13 years running a marathon…and I’m totally unable to contribute to society because of the burnout of trying to do it all.”

A father in Spain said: “My partner had to give up a job to raise our daughter. I had to take on a second job but I still feel like I came out on top in terms of my profession.”

As fathers, we were not surprised with this finding: nearly 90% of fathers say their involvement with their children is one of the greatest sources of happiness and meaning in their lives. Fatherhood is a precious male institution. More caregiving of children and others in their households requires tremendous sacrifices but it also brings joy to men’s lives. In the United States, fathers are 1.3 times more likely than men without children to report a sense of purpose in their lives.

New research from Dr. Sarah Hrdy and Dr. Darby Saxbe shows that men are “wired” for fatherhood. When we care for our kids, our brains and bodies undergo changes akin to those for Moms, even if not always on the same timeline. Engaged fatherhood is not new; it is in fact our natural state.

Women have lived, or tried to live, the impossibility of trying to have it all. Now fathers are facing the same sharp trade-offs between parenting and paid work. In the U.S. half of full-time working dads say they spend too little time with their children (compared to 40% of moms), according to Pew.

But the new, involved fatherhood gives us more hope for change. Women have led advocacy for paid leave and other care policies for decades in the U.S. and globally. But around the world, from Dad Shift in the UK that put baby bags on statues around London, to the U.S. Dads Congressional Caucus that pushes for paid leave alongside the Congressional Mamas’ Caucus, men are stepping not just into care, but into the cause too.

Equimundo’s State of America’s Fathers 2026 report found that men across the political spectrum support care policies at rates similar to women. In the United States, 90 percent of fathers agree that all parents should have paid time away from work to spend with their children, while 87 percent say employees would be happier and more productive with subsidized childcare.

In fact white Republican-voting men say they want these things at rates nearly equal to Democrat-voting women of color. As the US continues to be the only highly developed country in the world without nationally guaranteed paid family leave, one way forward is to enjoin men to vote for what they already say they want.

It may not happen on its own, but with the right campaign strategies and advocacy we could imagine other changes: men demanding more flexible time at work, for example. 83 percent of fathers and 85 percent of mothers say their employers don’t offer flexible time for their care needs.  If men and women join forces to push for change, we dare to imagine women and men demanding workplaces that support caregiving.

Both of us work on challenges facing men and boys, from mental health and suicide, to boys’ challenges in schools, to cycles of violence, to engaging men and boys as partners in achieving full equality for women and girls across the workplace and in political leadership.  Many days it feels like we spend more time highlighting challenges than achieving progress.

But when it comes to men’s roles as fathers, we see a revolution unfolding, one that is ripe for acceleration.

Scholars have long shown the importance of father involvement for children and women.  But our data—and our own lives—tell us that we have too often been missing the other piece, namely how men benefit from fatherhood in terms of happiness and purpose, which are in short supply among too many men today.

More engaged fathers can help create the political will for family-friendly policies and a more caring economy. And as more men experience caregiving firsthand, many will find what generations of women have long known: care is demanding work, but it is also one of life’s deepest sources of connection and purpose.

Richard Reeves is the founding president of the American Institute for Boys and Men (AIBM), which he launched in 2023 to address the challenges facing boys and men through evidence-based research. Gary Barker is the President, CEO, and Founder of Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice, which has worked internationally since 2011 to engage men and boys as allies in gender equality, promote healthy manhood, and prevent violence.