The findings in this presentation are preliminary please do not - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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

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

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

Research: 1970s, 1980s, 1990s

Fathers: partners, carers, involved, nurturers

Anxieties about absent fathers

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

• f 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 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.

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)

Fathers’ working patterns

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 2001-2011 (HRP 16-64)

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 Other 0.5 worker 1 FTE worker 1.5 FTE workers 2 FTE workers % of households 2011 2001

43 44 45 46 47 48 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 Average usual hours in main job

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 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 Average usual hours in main job

Working hours of men in households with children PT (age 16-64)

15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 Average usual hours in main job

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

38 39 40 41 42 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 Average usual hours in main job

Working hours of women in households with children FT (age 16-64)

38 39 40 41 42 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 Average usual hours in main job

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

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 % working 60 or more hours per week

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

Fatherhood: concepts

Fatherhood

• Fathers v ‘non-fathers’

– Typology

• Biological v social father
• Resident v non-resident father

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

Fatherhood status, 2009/10

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

Age profile

41 1 2 27 3 11 22 12 6 42 43 12 32 40 31 8 58 7 2 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+

Non-fathers, by age

20 40 60 80 100 60+ 45 to 59 35 to 44 25 to 34 16 to 24

Economic status

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)

Biological v social father

Fathers co-resident with dependent children

20 40 60 80 100 Step Foster Adopted Biological 94 1 0.4 11

Base: fathers co-resident with dependent children (n=5,556)

Bio v non-bio

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

Resident v non-resident father

Whether has a non-resident child <16

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)

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

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

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)

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