The post-covid gendered division of care-Exploring the changing nature of fatherhood as a result of the coronavirus: A cross-country comparison

In recent decades academic interest in fatherhood has increased. This has largely arisen out of social changes. Traditional fatherhood is closely associated with the traditional gendered division of labour-men as breadwinners and women primary caregivers (Edwards et al., 2009; McGill, 2014; Williams, 2008). However, more recently gender roles have become less defined and norms and expectations of a 'good' father have shifted. A 'good' father is now seen as physically and emotionally involved in their children's lives (Dermott and Miller, 2015; McGill, 2014; Williams, 2008).
There is evidence of this more involved father. Over recent decades, fathers have spent more time with their children, particularly in dual-income households (Bianchi et al., 2006; O'Brien and Shemilt, 2003). Similarly, qualitative studies on fathering, such as Dermott's 2003 study, have found fathers see emotional openness and an intimate relationship with their children as integral to being a good father.
The Covid-19 pandemic, and the unprecedented changes it bought to work and family life, is likely to impact on this changing role of fathers (Alon et al., 2020; Dugarova, 2020; Hipp and Bunning, 2020). It left many parents with additional childcare burdens, having fundamental implications on the gendered division of care.
Initial findings suggest it has heightened unequal gendered division of labour. Mothers have shouldered the bulk of new childcare responsibilities and have been much more likely to have their employment status affected as a result (Andrew et al., 2020; Chung et al., 2020; Collins et al., 2020; Ipsos MORI, 2020). Nevertheless, strong evidence suggests father's childcare involvement has also significantly increased (Andrew et al., 2020; Chung et al., 2020; Craig and Churchill, 2020; Kreyenfeld and Zinn, 2020; Sevillia and Smith, 2020). Sevilla and Smith (2020) found, compared to 2015, UK fathers have taken on 19.4 hours more weekly childcare. Although mothers saw a greater increase, the allocation of additional childcare hours was more equally distributed.
Fathers' increased childcare participation will potentially positively impact their long-term childcare involvement. Evidence from father's use of parental leave has shown, even small increases in father's time at home can have long-lasting effects on their childcare involvement (Haas and Hwang, 2008; Huerta et al., 2017; O'Brein and Wall, 2017; Tanaka and Waldfogel 2007). Lockdown has been a greater shock to family life than parental leave reforms and thus has clear potential to transform the gendered division of care. Attitudes are already changing, with fathers expressing a wish to reduce hours and work more flexibly to spend more time with their children (Chung et al., 2020). There is also increased understanding that employers need to make it easier for men to combine work and childcare (Ipsos MORI, 2020). We wait to see whether these changes will be sustained.
This study will build on wider literature on fathers changing roles and will aim to determine whether, as previous studies have been unable to, the coronavirus and the consequent changes to work and family life have had long-lasting effects on the gendered division of care. It will also look to ascertain the implications that the coronavirus and fathers' changing roles may have on work and family policy.
Research Questions
i. What have been the long-term implications of the coronavirus on fatherhood in Anglo-Saxon countries?
ii. What are the family policy implications of the coronavirus and the changes that it has bought to father's roles?