Celebrating Father's Day Week of Action with the Dads Caucus

This month, we celebrated Father’s Day with the US Congressional Dads Caucus for the second annual Father’s Day Week of Action.

At a press conference in front of the US Capitol, a roundtable discussion on paid leave with Congress members and advocates, a reception where we presented several advocates with Dad Ambassador awards, and a men’s caregiving brunch, we launched our new study on men’s caregiving in the US, The Care Burden Affects Us All: Assessing men’s stake as caregivers in the US, and asserted our policy and media recommendations to provide paid leave for all parents, reinstate the child tax credit, subsidize high-quality child and elder care to help make childcare more accessible and affordable, and tell positive stories of fatherhood and men’s caregiving.

Gary Barker delivering remarks at a press conference on paid leave at the US Capitol.

Advocating for parents with the Congressional Dads Caucus

Throughout the week we joined the Dads Caucus in advocating for paid leave for all parents and for telling more stories of positive, involved, equitable fatherhood, alongside staunch advocates for dads including Congressman Jimmy Gomez, Chair of the Congressional Dads Caucus; Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi; Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff; Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, a founding member of both the Dads Caucus and Mamas Caucus; Chasten Buttigieg, an author, activist, and husband to Secretary Pete Buttigieg; Timm Chiusano, influencer and fatherhood advocate; and Laura Modi, advocate, co-founder and CEO of the baby formula company Bobbie.

Launching a new study on men’s caregiving

During the Father’s Day Week of Action, we shared findings from our new report on men’s caregiving in the US. We know that dads want to step up and do more care, but policies haven’t caught up and structural barriers prevent their full ability to do care work. In the US, 88% of dads across party lines and income levels want investments in childcare infrastructure, according to the report.

There are two big headlines from the report: First, families are being stretched as never before when it comes to their care burdens. The US has long been the outlier as a country – limited access to child care, no national parental leave, limited benefits to the poorest families that is offered and taken away with the latest political whim. The US has never had a system in place for caregivers. Now the vast majority of us are back at work after COVID, and the demands are greater than ever.

Secondly, our survey found that everyone across the political spectrum, across ethnicities, and across income levels wants family-friendly policies: More than 90% want elder care and childcare; 90% want paid leave; 80% want an increased minimum wage. Even among the most conservative voters, male Republicans, 77% want paid leave.