Are fathers’ different working hours always a bad thing?

How do fathers’ atypical working hours affect their education? Dads matter. We know the positive impact of fathers as caregivers in terms of emotional support, interactive nurturing, and day-to-day nurturing of their children. But does it matter if they regularly work irregular hours like evenings, nights or weekends, which could affect their ability to do their parenting activities? With more than half of working fathers in the UK working such unusual hours in their children’s first decade, it’s vital to understand how this affects fathers’ education and whether the impact varies by context. . (Atypical work hours are also common among American dads.) New figures from the UK provide detailed answers. Her colleague Ann McMann and I used data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative sample of children born in the UK between 2000 and her 2002. We analyzed 11,412 fathers when their children were 9 months old and 7,791 fathers when their children were almost 7 years old. Focused on her two aspects of parenting. Basic care (for both ages) and play and fun (for 7 year olds). We asked 9-month-old fathers how often they fed their infants themselves, changed diapers, breastfed, and nighttime babysitters. We asked fathers of 7-year-olds if they helped get their children ready for bed or if they were the only ones caring for them. You can also read with or for your children, tell stories, play music, draw, play physical games, take your children to the park They also asked how often they went out and played with toys and games indoors. Unusual schedules had different impacts on father participation We found that the fathers who worked in the evenings, from 18:00 to 18:00. and 10:00 p.m., spent less time on core parenting activities both in infancy and at seven years of age than fathers who worked standard hours. For example, they spent less time babysitting alone, putting the baby to bed, changing diapers, or getting up at night to comfort the baby. On the contrary, fathers who worked night shifts, for example, from 10:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. before 7 a.m. spend more time on these basic care activities. First, we found that fathers who worked regular evening hours spent more time and those who worked weekends spent less time playing and relaxing than fathers who worked regular hours. However, these differences may be due to work characteristics such as long hours rather than work schedules. Finally, we found no evidence that the relationship between fathers’ working hours and parenthood differs by the intensity of fathers’ working hours, families’ poverty status, or fathers’ level of education. These findings support a more nuanced investigation of non-standard work schedules and their integration with childcare. Not all irregular working hours negatively affect father involvement. Fathers who work the night shift may have fewer parenting responsibilities, while fathers who work the night shift may become more involved in parenting. Previous studies of work at specific times of the day help interpret these results. Night shifts can create opportunities for fathers to participate in parenting during the day, early in the morning or in the evening, depending on when childbirth begins and ends. On the other hand, night shifts can be done while children are asleep, making fathers who work during these hours less likely to participate in their children’s education. In addition to the basic parenting activities we examined, other studies have also shown that fathers who work night shifts miss out on family activities such as helping with homework or sharing meals.