Aussie Dads Want To Care More For Kids But Barriers Remain

Australian dads want to care more for their kids but traditional barriers remain, including for younger fathers.

Dr Alina Ewald is a psychology lecturer at Western Sydney University.

Dr Ewald was part of the research team partnered with The Fathering Project to survey parents around the world.

Released in March 2026, The State of the World’s Fathers Report spanned about 8000 parents across 16 countries (including Australia).

One of the key Australian findings is many fathers believe they are better connected with their kids than previous generations.

“Australian dads report being very happy in the father role; they get great enjoyment from it,” Dr Ewald told Hope Mornings.

“They talk about wanting to be present, involved and emotionally connected to their children.

Hope 103.2 is proudly supported by

“Research consistently shows that fathers’ engagement in caregiving benefits not only children’s cognitive, social and emotional development, but also relationship quality, family wellbeing and mother’s workforce participation.”

However, the State of the World’s Fathers Report revealed the desire to be closer with their kids is not the same thing as dads doing this.

“Traditional ‘provider’ norms do remain powerful,” Dr Ewald said ahead of speaking at The Fathering Summit in Sydney on April 23.

“The ‘bread-winner’ model of fathering, although it has dissipated somewhat, in recent times it has re-emerged.”

The Report found Generation Z fathers more likely than Generation X to consider financial provision as their primary responsibility.

Dr Ewald believed this outlook has intensified due to “younger fathers especially [being] exposed to a lot of uncertainty and pressures that amplify the barriers men already face in the parent role”.

Perceived financial insecurity was a major indicator of a father’s alignment with the “bread-winner” archetype.

Greater involvement in family life for fathers can be constrained by “long work hours, inflexible employment conditions, limited access to childcare and persistent gender norms that position men as primary earners and women as primary carers”.

Helping Australian fathers need social and workplace changes to support their important role in families.

“We need to support them in every aspect of a father they want to be,” Dr Ewald said.

“One [way] is by supporting parental leave.

“Dads need to be offered genuinely shareable and adequality paid, ‘father-specific’ parent leave.

“Another key area is inflexible working… There are still many barriers for dads in terms of adopting flexible working for caregiving.”

Listen to the full interview with Dr Alina Ewald in the player above.

Feature image: Canva Pro