Six in Ten Fathers Want to Stay Home Full-Time. Work Gets in the Way

Six in ten fathers told researchers they would like to stay home full-time. That figure comes from a new report by the Better Life Lab at New America, a think tank that publishes research on workplace equity and family policy, and it reframes caregiving as a men's problem too.

The tension between work and caregiving is usually framed as a women's issue. The data says otherwise. Men report many of the same hurdles working women face: limited flexibility, little autonomy, and thin structural support.

What do the numbers show?

Compared to 2019, men are taking more time off or cutting their hours for caregiving, especially lower earners and fathers of children with special needs. The shift is measurable.

Among men caring for adults or children with special needs, the share who missed work because of care obligations rose from 64% in 2019 to 76% this year. About half of men reported reducing their work hours, up from 42% in 2019. Those rates suggest men now face pressures women have carried for decades.

Attitudes have moved ahead of behavior. Over two-thirds of men surveyed said caregiving is as important as paid work and that both parents should contribute equally. Yet only about 40% of respondents who are parents and caregivers said they actually split the responsibilities down the middle.

What holds fathers back?

Over a quarter of dads said barriers — their job, their financial situation — stop them from being the parent they want to be. Male caregivers of adults or children with special needs reported the same feeling at similar rates. Men earning over $100,000 were even more likely to report those barriers.

The Better Life Lab reads the data cautiously. Men, the lab suggests, are likely underreporting how much work obligations actually limit their ability to show up as parents or caregivers.

Schedule control is scarce. A third of fathers said they have "no control" over their schedules. Men with more control over their hours usually could not choose which days they worked, and vice versa.

Remote work follows the same pattern of unmet demand:

• 74% of parents and caregivers prefer remote or hybrid arrangements
• Only 40% currently work that way
• Roughly one in five respondents want to work from an office, with men somewhat more office-friendly
• Nearly two-thirds of fathers said work obligations interfered with family time

Does paid leave change behavior?

Yes, and the evidence is regional. As Fast Company recently reported, men are finally taking more parental leave, driven partly by state-level paid leave policies. Until recently, men took little time off — a week at most, often stitched together from sick days, vacation days, or unpaid time.

Recent research shows dads now file just as many leave claims as moms in California, Colorado, and Washington, all states with robust paid leave programs. In states with long-running programs, male claims keep climbing. States that adopted paid leave more recently saw high male uptake from the start.

Workplace culture matters as much as policy. Among fathers who took leave:

• 72% cited a supportive workplace as a reason
• 63% pointed to a paid leave policy through their employer or state

When men have real access to paid leave, they take it — a pattern that matches the Better Life Lab's findings on how workplace culture shapes the caregiver experience.

Cultural stigma still suppresses uptake. Men continue to grapple with stigma that keeps them from taking paid leave even when they are entitled to it, the report found.

Who still carries the heavier load?

Women do. They remain more likely to sacrifice careers for caregiving, and the gap widens when they become mothers. The report also found women identify as caregivers more readily and place more value on care work.

The culture has shifted somewhat — more men take leave and more are stepping up to care for aging parents. But the report's conclusion is blunt on one point: both men and women are unhappy with the status quo. For employers, the message in the numbers is that leave policy and schedule flexibility now shape whether fathers can act on preferences six in ten of them already hold.