New generation of fathers in Poland: a path to gender equality?

This paper explores fatherhood in Poland among dual-earner couples, having already at least one young child. The birth of a child usually results in more traditional division of labour among partners, including strongly gendered division of newly created childcare labour. However, there is visible intergenerational change, with new fathers expressing a desire to be more involved with their children (in comparison to their own fathers). Mothers support them, and they prioritise fathers building relationship with children over them doing more housework. The paper focuses on the results of 74 semi-structured individual interviews with 37 couples, conducted in 2019 in Poland. I explore how the concept of involved fatherhood is understood, and practiced, where there are a lot of contradictions. For example, despite generous, and seemingly gender-neutral social policies, like long parental leave available for both mothers and fathers, there is a strongly gendered uptake, with women using the vast majority of all leaves. For many of the fathers in my sample, fatherhood was a lifechanging experience. However, it is important to mention that even when a father is an active caregiver, it does not always transfer to more gender-equal division of labour. Through the experiences of my respondents, I argue that despite increasing cultural support for involved fatherhood, there are still challenges with practicing it.