This article seeks to identify the relationships between fatherhood, masculinities, and the welfare state. The paper is based on fifty-two interviews conducted with Polish and Swedish fathers living with their biological children and their partners. A comparison of Polish and Swedish fathers enables us to comprehend how everyday practices and men’s thinking about parenthood and gender roles are connected to hegemonic masculinities models and family policy systems. The study shows how definitions of parental roles adopted in family policy influence men’s engagement in caring activities and the domestic sphere, as well as how they can help in the reconstruction of hegemonic masculinity and traditional gender order within family life.