Fathers’ working times in Germany: The role of the ideal worker norm in the context of other cultural and structural workplace conditions

Abstract

Many fathers would like to work less, but they do not reduce their working hours. Studies on the role of workplace organisations for work-family balance point to adverse working conditions as a major obstacle. Quantitative studies, however, are still rare due to the lack of data resources. This paper uses a representative survey of 711 parenting couples in Germany from 2015 to study the relationship between cultural and structural workplace conditions and fathers’ working times. We differentiate between part-time work, contractual and actual working hours. The results show a robust relationship between fathers’ inclination to work reduced hours and the extent to which formal, universal and transparent policies exist in their workplaces. Perceptions of a strong ideal-worker norm and access to substitutes at short notice are particularly relevant for whether fathers manage to comply with their contractual working hours. Surprisingly, fathers have longer contractual working hours the more they feel supported by their supervisor. The results also indicate that favourable cultural conditions are possible for shorter working hours of fathers in many industries and establishments of different sizes.