Using attitude data from the ISSP 2012, we study the prevalence of the second half of the gender revolution – the involvement of men/fathers in care and housework on equal terms as women/mothers. With a focus on the collective consciousness in 27 societies, we (1) map patterns of support for different family model ideals; (2) study the extent to which these ideals are related to national level indicators of gender equality and modernization; (3) analyse similarities and differences between groups of societies, focusing on which ideals that represent conservative and progressive alternatives in each society; (4) analyse group differences and the degree to which these ideals are contested within societies. We find that the ideal of a father as provider and a mother as caregiver persists, but in nearly all societies, it is challenged by other alternatives: mothers’ part-time work, full-time work for both mothers and fathers, and a dual-earner/dual-carer ideal, with shared responsibilities for paid (part-time) and unpaid work. On the societal level, modernization and gender equality are positively associated with both progressive family ideals and marked group differences, indicating that fathers’ involvement in the family is a contested issue in progressive societies.