Outline Policy & research context Aims of project and data - PDF document

19/06/2013 Fathers, work and families in twenty- first century Britain: beyond the breadwinner model? Margaret O’Brien Svetlana Speight, Sara Connolly, Matt Aldrich, Eloise Poole 18 June 2013, OU Outline • Policy & research context • Aims of project and data sources • Profiling UK Fathers: fatherhood status and definitions. Dealing with Complexity: bio, social, non-resident • Profiling of UK fathers’ working patterns Time trends in employment status and hours 2001-2011; continuity and change across different family types 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 1

19/06/2013 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). Aims of the study 1. To provide a comprehensive profiling of fathers in 21 st 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. Data 1. Understanding society , wave 1 (2009-10) and wave 2 (2010-11). 2. EU Labour Force Survey (2000-current) 3. European Social Survey , round 2 (2004-05) and round 5 (2010-11) 4. British Household Panel Survey , all 18 waves (1991-2009) 2

19/06/2013 Fatherhood • Fathers v ‘non-fathers’ • Biological v social father • Resident v non-resident father Typology of fathers 3

19/06/2013 Fathers co-resident with dependent children Biological 94 1 Adopted Foster 0.4 Step 11 0 20 40 60 80 100 Base: fathers co-resident with dependent children (n=5,556) Bio v non-bio Couple fathers 87 7 6 Lone fathers 96 2 2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Bio only Bio and non-bio Non-bio only 4

19/06/2013 Resident v non-resident father Whether has a non-resident child <16 All men 16+ Father, dependent children, couple Father, dependent children, lone Father, no dependent children Non-father 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 Base: all men aged 16+ (n=20,663) Non-resident fathers More likely to be: • <45 years old (compared with 45+) • Living without a partner • Less well educated • Not in paid work • NS-SEC group - routine occupations • In rented accommodation 5

19/06/2013 Whether non-resident fathers are co-resident with any dependent children Has resident children and is in a couple 27% Has resident children - lone father 46% No resident children and is 2% in a couple No resident children and is 24% single Base: fathers who have non-resident children under 16 (n=1,053) Contact with non-resident children Non-resident child/ren only Resident and non-resident children 25 22 21 19 17 17 14 11 11 10 10 8 5 4 3 2 No Few times A few Several Once a Several Almost 50/50 contact a year times a times a week times a every day year month week Base: fathers who have non-resident children under 16 (n=1,050) Fathers’ working patterns 6

19/06/2013 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 Working patterns of couple households with dependent children Significant change between 2001 and 2011 at * 10%, workers 2 FTE ** 5% and *** 1% level MFT and FFT** 1.5 FTE workers MFT and FPT*** FFT and MPT*** Male sole FT earner 1 FTE worker Female sole FT earner** 2001 Dual PT*** 2011 Female sole PT earner 0.5 worker Male sole PT earner*** Neither working Other Other 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 % of households Working hours of men working FT in couple households with dependent children 48 47 Average usual hours in main job 46 45 44 43 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 7

19/06/2013 Working hours of men working FT in couple households with dependent children by family type 48 47 Average usual hours in main job 46 45 44 43 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 MFT and FFT*** MFT and FPT*** Male sole FT earner*** All FT*** Working hours of women working FT in couple households with dependent children by family type 44 43 42 Average usual hours in main job 41 40 39 38 37 36 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 MFT and FFT FFT and MPT Female sole FT earner All FT Working hours of women working PT in couple households with dependent children by family type 20 19 Average usual hours in main job 18 17 16 15 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 MFT and FPT** Dual PT Female sole PT earner* All PT 8

19/06/2013 Incidence of long (≥48) working hours of parents in couple households with dependent children 45 40 35 % working 48 or more hours per week 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 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 Incidence of long (≥ 60) working hours of parents in couple households with dependent children 18 16 14 % working 60 or more hours per week 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 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 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 9