Padri in gioco 

Background: Rethinking Family Roles 

In many families, childcare and household responsibilities still fall mainly to women. This can be the case even when both parents work. Women are often expected to take primary responsibility for childcare, while men are more likely to maintain their employment and career opportunities. As a result, women may not be able to devote the same time and energy to their careers as their male colleagues. 

Padri in gioco (Fathers at Stake) began with an analysis of European Commission statistics on employment in 2019. Across the EU, the average employment rate was 74% for men and 63% for women. Among parents with three or more children, the gap widened to 85% of men versus 58% of women. 

Led by EuroMamme in Italy, the project partnered with Miessakit Ry in Finland and Dante in Croatia to address this imbalance. It asked how fathers could become more involved in childcare and family responsibilities, particularly during pregnancy, after childbirth and during the early years of a child’s life. The project aimed to encourage a fairer sharing of responsibilities, helping women better reconcile motherhood and work while giving fathers a more active role in their children’s lives. 

Objectives 

The project aimed to help fathers understand the importance of their involvement in family life. Active participation can help fathers develop stronger relationships with their children and provide practical and emotional support to their partners. 

The project partners also wanted fathers to gain useful knowledge about children’s needs, parenting and family relationships. This included examining how responsibilities can be divided more fairly at home and how traditional expectations can affect mothers and fathers. 

Another objective was to support greater equality in families. When fathers take a more active role in childcare and domestic work, mothers may have more freedom to continue their education, employment and personal activities. 

Environmental sustainability was a key priority throughout the project, with environmentally friendly practices woven into the design of the training content. Inclusion and diversity were equally important, with measures in place to ensure meaningful and inclusive participation in both the distance-learning activities and the mobility phase. 

Questionnaires were used to assess participants’ knowledge, attitudes and experiences during the project. This helped the partners review what participants had learned and identify changes in their understanding of fatherhood. 

Implementation 

The work began with an online meeting in April 2022. The partner organisations agreed on the project plan, discussed the activities and created a shared visual identity.  

One of the main activities was an international meeting in Helsinki in December 2022. Finland was chosen because of its strong experience in supporting men and fathers. At the headquarters of Miessakit, participants heard about the organisation’s work with men and explored projects designed to strengthen men’s wellbeing and involvement in family life. 

Fathers took part in the discussions, and the partners shared examples, case studies and good practices. They also compared the relationship between fathers and children in different European settings. National laws were discussed too, including parental leave, separation, divorce and child custody. These conversations showed that family life is shaped not only by personal choices, but also by workplace rules, public services and social expectations. 

The second transnational meeting took place in Rome in March 2023. Participants compared family systems and exchanged practical ideas about managing the home and raising children. They completed questionnaires to check what they had learned through the meetings. 

The project ended with a meeting in Zagreb in April 2023. The partners reviewed the project results, discussed future cooperation and considered how the work could continue after the project ended. 

Results 

The project helped participants examine their understanding of fatherhood and consider how they could take greater responsibility for childcare and domestic work. Fathers were encouraged to see parenting as an active, shared responsibility rather than as a supporting role. 

The project also gave fathers practical ideas for becoming more involved in their children’s everyday lives. Meeting fathers and organisations from other countries made it possible to compare experiences and discover approaches that could be adapted locally. 

To spread the message further, the project used its website, social media and email communication to reach fathers, partners and local communities. Participants were encouraged to share what they had learned with other men, helping create a wider conversation about greater fatherhood involvement and a fairer division of care.

To find out more about this case study, visit the Erasmus+ project database: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/search/details/2021-1-IT02-KA210-ADU-000034929