Despite international growth of, and policy interest in, divorce and separation since the 1970s, there is still surprisingly little known about non-residential fatherhood. This paper presents a ‘father-centric’ analysis and provides one of the first profiles of non-residential fatherhood in early millennium UK. Using data from Understanding Society Wave 1, a nationally representative survey of over 30,000 households in the UK, we found 1,070 men self-identifying as having a non-resident child under 16 years old (https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk). We estimate a prevalence of 5 per cent of British men having a non-resident dependent child. Through latent class analysis, four distinct groups of non-resident fathers are identified: ‘Engaged’ fathers, ‘Less Engaged’ fathers, ‘Disengaged’ fathers and ‘Distance’ fathers. Our analysis finds that non-resident fathers form a heterogeneous group in terms of their socio-demographic profile and family behaviour. It is recommended that legislation and policy concerning fathers in post-separation families are sensitive to variation as well as commonality in socio-economic conditions and family lives and situations

This article examines the working lives of British couple families across the first decade of the millennium using EU Labour Force Survey data (2001-13) taking a multiple equilibria approach. Some growth in dual full-time earners, increased working hours of mothers in part-time employment and a growing proportion of households with 'non-standard' working patterns are all identified, suggesting both a convergence and greater diversity in economic provisioning within parent couple households. Household employment patterns remain strongly associated with maternal education and family size but are becoming less sensitive to the age of the youngest child. The dual full-time earner model is growing in significance for British parents of young children but a new gender egalitarian equilibrium has not yet been reached.

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This chapter examines contemporary fathering practices in the UK liberal welfare state context, where recent legislation has expanded fathers’ access to work-family reconciliation rights, albeit rather minimally. Data are provided to explore whether the new cultural mandate for active fathers holds for the quantity and the quality of time fathers spend with young children. Time use and employment activity data does show an increase in British fathers’ care time and a reduction in paid work time over the decade. Since 2003 British fathers can take two weeks paid leave after the birth of a child, and by the end of the decade over 90% of fathers took significant post-birth leave. However, British fathers, continue to have one of the longest working weeks and highest level of work–family conflict amongst European fathers. In the absence of stronger work–family reconciliation measures, underlying maternalist and modified breadwinner cultures remain resilient.

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