Father's Day in Ukraine and Latvia

The goal of Father’s Day is to popularize the idea of a man should be happy and proud of his family as a father. According to the research done by UNFPA Ukraine, fathers took care of children up to 3 years old only in 2% of families, while 45% of dads would like or plan to spend more time with their children. The following reasons for such “division of labour” are stated such as commitment of men to financially provide for family needs (81%), stereotypes like “childcare is a women’s responsibility” (18%), father’s low parenting skills (5%) etc. At the same time, the vast majority of fathers (80%) in older age regret not spending enough time with their children.

The second Sunday of September has become a tradition in Latvia to celebrate Father’s Day in Latvia. This celebration is gradually becoming an equivalent of Mother’s Day, helping parents and their children strengthen the bonds they share.

Father’s Day makes it necessary to break society’s stereotypes about men and women having different roles in a family, dividing their responsibilities and different roles in raising their children.