Expanded duties or expanded rights? A decade of conflicting state regulations of fatherhood in Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay

Abstract

In the last decade, the role of the State regarding paternity was addressed by presidents, congresses and civil society actors with increasing political power. Fatherhood and the defects and biases against it have been linked to social problems that transcend the family itself, such as child poverty and domestic violence. The comparative literature on recent political processes on this matter, however, is practically non-existent. Based on primary sources, this article analyzes a decade of transformation in the regulation of male breadwinning and care-giving, particularly when parenting goes to courts in Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay, linking both to the political processes and accounting for their important variations. The article concludes that measures to promote parental rights or duties reflected the political orientation of left and conservative political parties and executive powers, respectively.