EVOLVING MEN? Men, Families, Gender Equality and Care

Transcription

1 EVOLVING MEN? Men, Families, Gender Equality and Care Gary Barker, PhD International Director Instituto Promundo Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Washington, DC, USA

2 Overview The major inequalities: unequal pay and the unequal division of labor Social norms slow to keep up with changes in work life Is there evidence that men are changing? Which men are changing? And how? Are men evolving in their participation in family life? Where to from here in terms of policies?

3 Some of the Key Trends Slight increases in men s contributions to care work Lower fertility in many regions Increased rates of marital dissolution in some regions Higher educational attainment for boys and girls (for boys associated with more gender-equitable attitudes, for girls with later ages of marriage)

4 The International Men and Gender Equality Survey (IMAGES) - Partners Brazil: Gary Barker, Márcio Segundo, Marcos Nascimento, Christine Ricardo, Promundo Chile: Francisco Aguayo and Michele Sadler, CulturaSalud Croatia: Natasa Bijelic, CESI-Center for Education, Counseling and Research India: Ravi Verma and Ajay Singh, International Center for Research on Women Mexico: Juan Guillermo Figueroa, El Colegio de México Rwanda: Henny Slegh, Augustin Kimonyo, Fidèle Rutayisire and Edouard Munyamaliza, Rwandan Men s Resource Centre (Rwamrec) Coordination: ICRW and Instituto Promundo

5 IMAGES: Sample Design and Methodology

6 Gender Attitudes: IMAGES Gender Equitable Men Scale (GEM Scale) adapted to each setting High internal reliability across sites Indian and Rwandan men showed the most inequitable attitudes Men with higher educational attainment and married men had more equitable attitudes Unmarried men had the least equitable attitudes Younger men more equitable in some contexts, older men in other contexts suggesting that relationship experience may soften attitudes

7 Doing Their Share at Home? Younger men, more educated men, men with equitable attitudes doing more

8 Following their Fathers: Men who saw their fathers do domestic work more likely to do the same

9 Present at Birth? Younger men, more educated men more likely to be present at childbirth

10 Policy Impact in Chile: Dramatic increase in men s participation in childbirth

11 Men Taking Limited Paternity Leave Even When Available: Younger men, educated men, men with more stable employment more likely to take leave

12 What about the policy level? Men believe in gender equality in the abstract and in the specific but.

13 Men Confused and Resistant to GBV Laws: Perhaps a sign that the laws are troubling the gender order

14 We Need to Find More win-wins in Gender Equality Policies In India, Brazil and Croatia, men s participation in domestic activities, including child care was associated with: -Women s overall satisfaction with their intimate relationship/marriage -Women s sexual satisfaction Are there other areas where we can help women and men see the benefits of more equitable relationships?

15 NO WORK, NO MANHOOD: Work-Related Stress and Depression is a Common Experience in Men s Lives and Related with Numerous Key Variables (IMAGES)

16 Policy and Service Provision Enables Change Men s take up of HIV testing in Rwanda: 80+% as a result of health sector policy (men s self-care) More than half of Chilean men now present at childbirth as a result of policy change in maternity wards at public hospitals Policy changes may promote changes in practices before changes in attitudes Men s take up of paternity leave increases in countries were public policies and workplace policies encourage it Social engineering can work to change men s practices in terms of gender relations

17 The Emerging Headlines of Men and the Gender Equality Agenda 1. The gender order is being troubled: Men s resistance and negative reactions in some settings are signs that power is shifting 2. Men supportive of gender equality in the abstract, resistant when it gets closer to home 3. Policies that support families as pathway for reducing resistance to gender equality 4. Younger men, educated men are more likely to get gender equality and participate more in care work: How can we speed up the change? 5. Men s Confused Identities in the Face of Economic Stress: Helping Men Achieve Identities as Providers and Collaborative, Caregiving Partners

18 The Policies We Need Expanding paternity leave and flexible workplace policies Changing custody laws to encourage ongoing participation of fathers Making caregiving part of the education curriculum for boys and gender equality education part of the curriculum in general Teacher training, staff training for health, social sectors on how to engage men in care work Policies to encourage men s participation in caregiving professions (teacher, day care workers, etc.) Health policies to engage men in MCH and childbirth Livelihood policies that support women and men, children and families and that understand the identity aspects of work

19 Not just men politicians kissing babies But men politicians taking paternity leave and doing the care work. And being recognized for it