Abstract
The active involvement of fathers in child-rearing affects the child’s overall growth and development, and the parenting style impacts the direction of the influence on individual aspects of a child’s life. In order to achieve gender equality in society, it is necessary to raise public awareness of the importance of a father’s gender role, a desirable parenting style, and his inclusion in all aspects of family life. The aim of the research is to determine the level of father involvement in child-rearing, as well as the dominant parenting style based on the children’s assessment. A total of 290 pupils from 10 elementary schools in Osijek-Baranja County participated in this research, all of whom were in grades 5-8. Sociodemographic data, the 2018 parent involvement questionnaire - URU18, and the parenting behavior questionnaire 29 - URP29 were used. The results are in line with research conducted so far, and they indicate the importance of a father’s education and a supportive parenting style aiming at his involvement in housework and child care. Father’s education significantly presupposes his involvement in housework, taking care of school-related duties and obligations, and participation in leisure activities. A supportive parenting style is a significant positive predictor of all forms of father involvement, i.e., housework, school-related duties and obligations, activities, child care, and counseling. The results of this research indicate the importance of raising parental awareness of the importance of the supportive parenting style and the fathers’ involvement in child-rearing.
Highlights
A review of the literature has shown that fathers have slightly increased their contribution to housework in recent years and that father involvement is dependent on predictors such as women’s and men’s employment, earnings, and gender ideology
Gaunt3 states that mothers and fathers often choose how much time they dedicate to their work and how much to child care, and these choices are not always made situationally
Research in Australia shows that egalitarian gender-role attitudes among adolescents are associated with better outcomes of some dimensions of adolescent mental health, suggesting that establishing egalitarian gender attitudes in adolescence could help impart mental health benefits among this population group
Summary
A review of the literature has shown that fathers have slightly increased their contribution to housework in recent years and that father involvement is dependent on predictors such as women’s and men’s employment, earnings, and gender ideology. Fathers take on more child care responsibilities as their wives contribute more to family income. Gaunt states that mothers and fathers often choose how much time they dedicate to their work and how much to child care, and these choices are not always made situationally. These choices may reflect the importance they attribute to values of achievement, conservation, or openness to change. In this way, fathers’ and mothers’ work and child care arrangements are guided by their value priorities. In the Netherlands, the gender ideology of fathers is linked to the likelihood of the mother leaving the labor market, which has a negative effect on children in more Research results in Turkey suggest that fathers involved in their children’s lives are more competent and have higher marital satisfaction. Research in Australia shows that egalitarian gender-role attitudes among adolescents are associated with better outcomes of some dimensions of adolescent mental health, suggesting that establishing egalitarian gender attitudes in adolescence could help impart mental health benefits among this population group. In the Netherlands, the gender ideology of fathers is linked to the likelihood of the mother leaving the labor market, which has a negative effect on children in more
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