Child Care Responsibility in Gay Male-Parented Families: Predictive and Correlative Factors

Abstract

Although the frequency of gay male parented families is increasing, little is known about child care responsibility in these families. A purposive and snowball-sampled, Internet-based survey of 76 gay male parented families who brought children into their families after the primary relationship had been formed were the study participants. A modified version of Cowan and Cowan's (1988) “Who Does What” measure was utilized to determine divisions of child care responsibility. It was determined that, to a statistically significant degree, fathers with greater child care responsibility made less money and had a greater desire to have a child before the arrival of the child. After the arrival of the child they also fulfill more of a “mothering role,” make less money, and have lower career importance after the arrival of the child than their partners. These findings build upon the qualitatively derived knowledge of parenting responsibilities in these families by providing a quantitative lens for understanding a number of associations between parenting responsibilities and other factors in these fathers’ lives.