Making it work: Fathers' nonstandard work schedules and parenting activities

Abstract

Objective: We examined associations between types of nonstandard work schedules among fathers, couple-level work schedules, and fathers' parenting activities in infancy and middle childhood in the United Kingdom. Background: An emerging body of literature has interrogated the implications of fathers' nonstandard schedules for their parenting. The evidence is mixed owing to the range of child ages investigated and country context. It remains unclear whether nonstandard working hours are related to different types of parenting activities. Method: The authors used the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative birth cohort from the UK, and two measures of fathers' parenting: basic care (9-month and 7-year interviews) and play and recreation (7 years). Regression models predicted parenting from fathers' nonstandard work schedules at 9-months (n = 11,412) and 7 years (n = 7791). Results: Fathers who regularly worked night schedules engaged in more basic care in both infancy and middle childhood, compared to fathers who regularly worked standard schedules. Evening schedules were related to lower levels of basic care among infants and 7-year-olds. There were stronger positive associations with parenting when considering mothers' work schedules. Fathers' parenting at both ages was higher in families in which both parents worked at nonstandard times or parents were engaged in split-shift schedules. Conclusion: Fathers' night work schedules were associated with more parenting activities in infancy and middle childhood. The combination of fathers' and mothers' work schedules were relatively more important than considering fathers' work schedules in isolation.