Fatherhood is in transition and being challenged by often contradictory forces: societal mandates to be both an active father and provider, men’s own wish to be more involved with their children, and the institutional arrangements in which fathers work and live. This book explores these phenomena in the context of cross-national policies and their relation to the daily childcare practices of fathers. It presents the current state of knowledge on father involvement with young children in six countries from different welfare state regimes with unique policies related to parenting in general and fathers in particular: Finland, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, the UK and the USA.

Contributions by: Eloise Poole, Matthew Aldrich, Svetlana Speight, Sara Connolly, Margaret O'Brien, Ziva Humer, Nada Stropnik, Maria Letizia Tanturri, Elisabetta Ruspini, Yve Stoebel-Richter, Petteri Eerola, Jouko Huttunen