(Expansion) – Dear and dear readers, regarding Father’s Day that was commemorated yesterday, I would like to play trivia with you.
Question 1. In Mexico, how many men have children?
Answer. It is not known for sure.
Based on the Housing and Population Census, he estimates that in 2020 there were 21.2 million men who identified themselves as the parents of at least one resident of their home. This data can only be estimated with several crosses of the question about the household residents and their relationship. However, unlike women, men are not asked if they have live children or are related to. So a divorced father who watches over his children but doesn’t live with them doesn’t count?
Question 2. How many men with children lost their jobs during the pandemic?
Answer. It is not known.
In the National Occupation Survey, only women aged 12 years and over must answer how many living children they have had. For this reason, we know that those most affected by the pandemic have been working mothers: between the first quarter and the fourth of 2020, nine out of 10 women who left the economy were. However, this indicator cannot be measured for men, because they are not even asked if they have children.
Question 3. How many men who have or adopt children take advantage of paternity leave?
Answer. It is not known.
The Federal Labor Law establishes that men have the right to five days of paid paternity leave when having or adopting a child. However, these days are at the employer’s expense and only the work centers know how many workers have requested this benefit, but these data are not public.
After hours of reviewing questionnaires from the household surveys that Inegi has drawn up in the last three years, I confirmed that only women are asked if they have children. Why? Is not fatherhood a relevant sociodemographic characteristic?
One of the best bosses I have ever had said “what is not measured does not matter” and I agree since they are phenomena that cannot be quantified, and what is said about it will remain in opinions. In that sense, at least from the point of view of official statistics, in Mexico being a father does not matter.
And in other countries is this measured? Yes. For example, in the United States, the Current Population Survey asks men and women if they have children. Something similar happens with the labor surveys of the y.
Parents are essential in the development of their children. If we want to move towards a more equitable society, we need them to take a more active role in caregiving. This should be reflected in the public data.
By measuring how many men have children, in addition to establishing that it is an element just as important as for women, it would allow us to analyze how much being a father influences their economic or work decisions.
Hopefully Inegi will take advantage of this to propose how more inclusive data can be generated, which will be the first step to design more actions, based on evidence, on the path to equality.
Editor’s Note: Fátima Masse is Director of Inclusive Society at IMCO. Follow her on Twitter like. The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author alone.
