Long-term study of COVID lockdown and family life shows unexpected, lasting effects on fatherhood

In the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, an ideal vision of family life would have shown that parents are continuing to share in caregiving responsibilities and spending quality time with their children — dads, in particular. Many people hoped that the behavioral changes caused by lockdowns would persist, allowing dads more time and flexibility in the long term and ultimately reshaping how we view fatherhood in general. However, according to new research from Notre Dame anthropologist and f