Slides showing the results of research into the role of fathers at home and at work in the 21st century. We've examined biological and social fatherhood and all types of fathers, including those who live on their own and lone fathers. We find out if the classic British earner household of a father working full-time and a mother working part-time is still relevant and examine changes to fathers' working hours. Finally, we look at how involved parents are in the lives of their children, and whether things are different for fathers and mothers. This research was carried out by NatCen Social Research and the University of East Anglia. It was funded by the ESRC. Although principally focused on fathers in the UK, we also examine how the realities of fatherhood vary across Europe.

1. Fathers, work and families in twenty-
first century Britain: beyond
the breadwinner model?
The findings in this presentation are preliminary – please do not
reference without authors’ permission
Margaret O’Brien & Svetlana Speight
Matt Aldrich, Sara Connolly, Eloise Poole
23 April 2013, UCL

2. Outline
• Policy & research context
• Aims of project and data sources
• Profiling of UK fathers’ working patterns Time trends in
employment status and hours 2001-2011; continuity and
change across different family types
• Profiling UK Fathers: fatherhood status and definitions.
Dealing with Complexity: bio, social, non-resident

3. Policy & Research Context
“ In a rapidly changing world, we will
continue witnessing the growing
momentum and recognition of the
importance of men for gender equality,
reconciling work-family life and
impacting the future of their children”
Men in Families and Family Policy in a
Changing World Report 2011 New York:
United Nations Department of
Economic and Social Affairs
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/
family/docs/men-in-families.pdf

4. Research: 1970s, 1980s, 1990s

5. Fathers: partners, carers, involved,
nurturers

6. Anxieties about absent fathers

7. Inter-disciplinary conceptual framework for
understanding change and continuity in
men’s family and work roles
• Awareness that the family unit is undergoing a transition from
a traditional unitary model based on a male dominant
economic actor towards a different logic with less specialization
of roles by gender (Becker, 1981; Browning et al, 2011).
• New norms redefining family life are emerging – “a gender-
equality equilibrium” – but are unstable (Esping-Anderson,
2009).
• A multidimensional approach to men’s parenting activities or
“father involvement” with direct and indirect influences of
paternal capital on child and family wellbeing (Pleck, 2010)
• Awareness that public policy measures, such as parental leave
and flexible working schedules, have a profound effect on how
much time children get to spend with their parents (Gornick &
Meyers, 2009; Lewis, 2009).

8. Aims of the study
1. To provide a comprehensive profiling of fathers in
21st century Britain in terms of their paid work and
family life.
2. To explore factors associated with differences in
fathers’ paid work and family life.
3. To analyse time trends in fathers’ working patterns to
explore effects of policy changes.
4. To explore the role of institutional factors, by
comparing the UK with other European countries.

9. Data
1. Understanding society, wave 1 (2009-10) and
wave 2 (2010-11).
2. EU Labour Force Survey (late 1990s-current)
3. European Social Survey, round 2 (2004-05) and
round 5 (2010-11)
4. British Household Panel Survey, all 18 waves
(1991-2009)

10. Fathers’ working patterns

11. EU- LFS 2001-2011
• Adult couple households with dependent children
(2011 20,569 couple households of which 6,092
have at least one child under the age of 15 living
in the household)
• Age restriction on the household reference
person – 16-64 years
• Employment status FT = 30 hours or more per
week PT = <30 hours per week
• Definitions of working hours "usual" weekly hours

12. Working patterns of couple households with
dependent children 2001-2011 (HRP 16-64)
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Other
Neither
working
Male sole PT
earner
Female sole PT
earner
Dual PT
Female sole FT
earner
Male sole FT
earner
FFT and MPT
MFT and FPT
MFT and FFT
Other0.5worker1FTEworker
1.5FTE
workers
2FTE
workers
% of households
2011 2001

14. 43
44
45
46
47
48
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
Averageusualhoursinmainjob
Working hours of men in households with children
(age 16-64)
MFT and FFT MFT and FPT Male sole FT earner All FT All

15. 15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
Averageusualhoursinmainjob
Working hours of men in households with children PT
(age 16-64)

16. 15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
Averageusualhoursinmainjob Working hours of men in households with children by family type PT (age 16-64)
FFT and MPT Dual PT Male sole PT earner All PT

17. 38
39
40
41
42
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
Averageusualhoursinmainjob
Working hours of women in households with children FT
(age 16-64)

18. 38
39
40
41
42
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
Averageusualhoursinmainjob
Working hours of women in households with children FT by family type
(age 16-64)
MFT and FFT FFT and MPT Female sole FT earner All FT

22. 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
%working60ormorehoursperweek
Incidence of long working hours 60+ of parents (age 16-64)
Father dual earner hh Father 1.5 earner hh Male sole earner hh All full-time fathers
Mother dual earner hh Mother 1.5 earner hh Female sole earner hh All full-time mothers

23. Fatherhood: concepts

24. Fatherhood
• Fathers v ‘non-fathers’
– Typology
• Biological v social father
• Resident v non-resident father

26. Fatherhood status
1. Fathers co-resident with dependent
children: in couples
2. Fathers co-resident with dependent
children: single parents
3. Fathers not living with any dependent
children
4. Non-fathers

27. Fatherhood status, 2009/10
0 10 20 30 40
Non-father
Father, no dependent children
Father, dependent children, lone
Father, dependent children,
couple
Base: men aged 16+ (n=20,741, Understanding Society survey)
25
1
38
36

28. Age profile
41
1
0
2
27
3
11
22
12
6
42
43
12
32
40
31
8
58
7
2
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Non-father
Father, no dependent
children
Father, dependent
children, lone
Father, dependent
children, couple
16-24 25-34 35-44 45-59 60+

29. Non-fathers, by age
0 20 40 60 80 100
60+
45 to 59
35 to 44
25 to 34
16 to 24

30. Economic status
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Economically inactive
Unemployed
Working part-time
Working full-time
Economically inactive
Unemployed
Working part-time
Working full-time
Economically inactive
Unemployed
Working part-time
Working full-time
Economically inactive
Unemployed
Working part-time
Working full-time
Non-father
Father,no
dependent
children
Father,
dependent
children,lone
Father,
dependent
children,
couple
% within each category of fatherhood
(men aged 16-64)

31. Biological v social father

32. Fathers co-resident with dependent children
0 20 40 60 80 100
Step
Foster
Adopted
Biological 94
1
0.4
11
Base: fathers co-resident with dependent children (n=5,556)

33. Bio v non-bio
96
87
2
7
2
6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Lone fathers
Couple fathers
Bio only Bio and non-bio Non-bio only

34. Resident v non-resident father

35. Whether has a non-resident child <16
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Non-father
Father, no dependent children
Father, dependent children, lone
Father, dependent children,
couple
All men 16+
Base: all men aged 16+ (n=20,663)

36. Non-resident fathers
More likely to be:
• <45 years old (compared with 45+)
• Living without a partner (OR: 28!)
• Less well educated
• Not in paid work
• NS-SEC group - routine occupations
• In rented accommodation

37. Whether non-resident fathers are co-resident with
any dependent children
Base: fathers who have non-resident children under 16 (n=1,053)
27%
2%
24%
46%
Has resident
children and is
in a couple
Has resident
children - lone
father
No resident
children and is
single
No resident
children and is
in a couple

38. Contact with non-resident children
10 11
5
11
22
25
14
2
21
4
17 19 17
8
3
10
No
contact
Few times
a year
A few
times a
year
Several
times a
month
Once a
week
Several
times a
week
Almost
every day
50/50
Non-resident child/ren only Resident and non-resident children
Base: fathers who have non-resident children under 16 (n=1,050)

39. Thank you
Prof. Margaret O’Brien (UEA) – M.O-brien@uea.ac.uk
Dr Svetlana Speight (NatCen Social Research) –
Svetlana.Speight@natcen.ac.uk
Dr Sara Connolly (UEA) – Sara.Connolly@uea.ac.uk
Dr Matt Aldrich (UEA) – Matthew.Aldrich@uea.ac.uk
Eloise Poole (NatCen) – Eloise.Poole@natcen.ac.uk