Barriers to Involved Fathering in Hungary. Insights from the Father Survey Module of a Hungarian Birth Cohort Study

Zsuzsanna Veroszta , Hungarian Demographic Research Institute
Zsuzsanna Makay, Hungarian Demographic Research Institute

Fathers face conflicting expectations as both involved caregivers and traditional breadwinners. We examine the tensions of this dual role using data from the Cohort ’18 Growing Up In Hungary birth cohort study, analyzing responses from over 1,700 fathers of 18-month-old children collected in 2019/2020, using linear regression models. We assess how fathers’ workloads, perceived work–family conflict, and fathering-role attitudes—their own and their partners’—relate to the division of caregiving tasks on weekdays and weekends. Results show that caregiving remains largely the mother’s responsibility, with fathers reporting relatively low involvement. Notably, a significant portion of fathers (21%) work more than 50 hours per week. Both longer working hours and higher work–family conflict is associated with reduced paternal involvement. Fathers experiencing very high work-family conflict share 0.77 fewer tasks on weekdays compared to those with moderate conflict. On weekends, they share 0.83 fewer tasks. Fathers working more than 50 hours per week also share significantly fewer tasks on both weekdays and weekends compared to those working 40 hours or less. Temporal patterns thus emerge: while the absolute reduction in shared tasks due to work-family conflict is slightly larger on weekends, the proportional impact is stronger on weekdays. Egalitarian attitudes are linked to greater paternal engagement, especially on weekdays.

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 Presented in Session 108. Fatherhood and Parental Leave