Men’s and women’s changing attitudes towards fatherhood and working fathers in Australia

Abstract

Since the Second World War there have been significant changes in the gender systems of industrialised countries, largely driven by increased female labour force participation. Changes in men’s domestic participation have been comparatively incremental, and researchers contend the gender revolution will only be complete when men’s and women’s commitments are matched. Prior research on attitudes about gender roles has concentrated on women, but in this research, the focus is on men. Using growth curve analyses of Australian longitudinal data ( N = 24,397), this article examines attitudes towards fatherhood and working fathers and how they changed between 2001 and 2015. Workforce status, relationship status and parenthood are strong predictors of different attitudinal outcomes and change for men and women, indicating that views were influenced by interest and exposure in ways that differed by gender. Further, the authors find attitudes towards fatherhood and working fathers have changed over the last 15 years, particularly amongst working fathers and mothers, which have become more supportive of greater father involvement in the care of children and the ability of working fathers to meet the needs of their children.