On the third weekend of June, we celebrate fathers
Fathers play an increasingly active role in families and in the upbringing of children in Hungary. The presence of a father is a physical and mental health protection factor not only for children, but also for men. Today, many more children are allowed to live with both parents, as more children are born in marriage and the number of divorces has decreased.
Father's Day spread from the United States, where it was first initiated by a woman raised by her father in 1909. Father's Day became an official holiday overseas in 1972. A movement was launched in Hungary in 1994 to introduce Father's Day, and nowadays more and more people are celebrating fathers in Hungary, especially among the younger age group.
The image of the father has a great role in the development of the child and the formation of his personality, and the relationship with the father significantly affects the later life. Research shows that active paternal presence also improves the quality of life of children and fathers, with more happy and satisfied fathers living together and their children. While the maintenance and protection of the family was the most important role of a man in the past, nowadays more and more people are involved in raising children and caring for young children, nowadays this attitude is typical of about three-quarters of fathers with young children.
Today - according to the TREASURE Survey - 60 percent of births are father births, and in these cases mothers report a more positive birth experience in general. The increasing paternal presence and support during pregnancy and childbirth, but also later, during the care of the young child, is well perceived. Since 2012, the number of men receiving childcare allowances has more than increased tenfold.
It is a joyous process that more and more children are born and live in a family in which both parents are present. Compared to 2015, the proportion of babies born in marriage has increased by almost 1.5 times. Previously, half of the children (52%) and now nearly three quarters (70%) are born into families with married parents. With this increase, the rate of in-marriage births in Hungary has risen above the European Union average (the EU average is 58%, Hungary is the fifth best).
Since 2010, the number of marriages has doubled and the number of divorces has fallen to a six-decade low, with a decline of nearly 40 percent. Thanks to these favorable processes, the number of single-parent families has already decreased by one hundred thousand (from 320 thousand to 220 thousand), that is, more and more children are allowed to live with both parents.
The Father's Day is an excellent opportunity to emphasize even more: the family will be strong if men and women complement each other, share family responsibilities and both participate in raising children.
God bless the fathers now.
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