Fatherhood in Urban Mexico

Brígida García, El Colegio de México
Orlandina Oliveira, El Colegio de México

This paper analyzes the practice of fatherhood in urban Mexico today. Our objective is to identify the socio-demographic factors which can be associated with a more active participation of men in children’s care and recreation. Data come from a probabilistic survey of 1 644 men residing in Mexico City and Monterrey in 1998-1999. Logistic regression results indicate that a more participative fatherhood is associated with higher schooling, urban childhood residence, sharing egalitarian views on care and children’s age, but not with income or a younger father’s age (20-29 years). It is men who are 30-39 years old the ones that stand out from the rest (younger or older men) in their fatherhood practice. On the whole, our study helps to identify the nature of fatherhood changes in Mexico, the characteristics of those who are at the forefront of these transformations, as well as the stage of the life-cycle in which they are taking place.