Provider or Father? British Men’s Work Hours and Work Hour Preferences after the Birth of a Child

Abstract

This study uses data from the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society to analyse the effect of fatherhood on men’s work hours and work hour preferences. Past research indicates that British men follow the traditional male provider model by either not changing or increasing their working hours when they have fathered a child, but these previous findings are primarily based on descriptive or cross-sectional analyses. Longitudinal analysis of men in the UK (1991 to 2013) shows a significant positive effect of fatherhood on men’s work hours. However, this effect is mainly limited to the fathers of children between one and five years old whose partner is not employed. If the female partner is employed (especially part time) fatherhood leads the male partner to reduce his work hours. Analysis of men’s work hour preferences did not find significant links with the number and age of children.

Can Active Labour Market Programmes Emulate the Mental Health Benefits of Regular Paid Employment? Longitudinal Evidence from the United Kingdom

“…While men may display their masculine identity through employment, women are more limited by their relative economic dependence on men and instead perform gender through some forms of domestic servitude (Fensternmaker and West, 2002). The male breadwinner hypothesis also suggests that men gain their social identity and approval from work, whereas women may be more flexible and able to generate social approval and identity from participation in other roles, such as being a mother and wife (Hoherz and Bryan, 2020; McMunn et al, 2020; Wang and Coulter, 2019). Thus, the higher work centrality among men suggests that men may be more likely to obtain mental health benefits from employment than women.…”

“…In addition to different cultural values, men and women also have different labour market experiences and statuses, which may determine the extent to which they can obtain mental health benefits from employment and ALMPs. For example, existing evidence from the sociology of work shows that, compared with men, women are more likely to suffer discrimination in terms of pay, promotion and job security, and also more likely to experience sexual harassment in the workplace, situations that are closely linked to poor mental health (Hoherz and Bryan, 2020; McMunn et al, 2020; Wang, 2019). Moreover, compared with male workers, women working in full-time jobs are more likely to encounter work–life conflicts, and demands of multiple conflicting roles could undermine their mental health and wellbeing (Scott et al, 2010).…”

‘I Have a Newborn at Home’: Multi-actor Attributions and the Implementation of Shared Parental Leave

“…HR managers' attributions are subject to organizational (emphasis on family-friendly policies and compliance) and environmental (complexity of external policy, social goals) pressures. The coexistence of these varied processes of reframing/interpretation (van Gestel and Nyberg, 2009) highlights a degree of institutional complexity at the local level that is not necessarily captured in work focusing on policy implementation at the national (Connolly et al, 2016;Hoherz and Bryan, 2019) and international levels (Bünning and Pollmann-Schult, 2016;Haas, 2003;Ingold and Etherington, 2013;Koslowski, 2010;Robila, 2012).…”

“…At the other end are entirely privatized care models with limited state interventions (Central Europe, Spain and Greece) and a devolved approach (in a market-oriented United States of America it is up to employers and parents to figure out parental leave arrangements rather than the state). Despite the United Kingdom adopting a market-based approach to welfare (Haas, 2003), there is some state intervention to support more 'traditional social democratic goals' (Lyonette et al, 2011: 37), such as a normative shift away from the enduring male breadwinner model (Connolly et al, 2016;Hoherz and Bryan, 2019). Thus, the UK has gone further than European Union mandates by introducing shared parental leave rights but low state-provided pay for parental leave is in line with its market-oriented, residual welfare state model.…”

Associations between Paid Paternity Leave and Parental Mental Health Across the Transition to Parenthood: Evidence from a Repeated-Measure Study of First-Time Parents in California

“…Although the birth of a new child is often a joyful experience, it is also a challenging one, as parents must devote time, energy, and financial resources to support a growing family. Over the last halfcentury, the increased participation of mothers in the labor force has been accompanied by notable shifts towards paternal involvement in childrearing (Cabrera et al, 2000;Hoherz & Bryan, 2020;Sarkadi et al, 2008). The ability to take family leave after the birth of a child may afford fathers time to bond with their child (Plotka & Busch-Rossnagel, 2018;Rehel, 2014) and build competence in infant care (Bünning, 2015).…”