Parenting Stress Among Low-Income and Working-Class Fathers

Abstract

Contemporary norms of fatherhood emphasize the dual demands of breadwinning and daily involvement in childcare. Recent qualitative research suggests that working-class fathers find it difficult to meet these demands due to job instability and workplace inflexibility. Yet, little quantitative research has examined how employment characteristics are related to fathers’ parenting stress, in comparison with mothers’. Analyses using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 3,165) show that unemployment and workplace inflexibility, but not overwork, multiple jobs, odd-jobs, and nonstandard hours, are related to more parenting stress for fathers. Although these two factors are also related to more parenting stress for mothers, nuanced gender differences emerged: these are better predictors than other parental or child characteristics for fathers only, and the effect size of workplace inflexibility is greater for fathers than mothers. In sum, securing a job with flexible schedule is central to reducing fathers’ parenting stress.

The Relationship between Work-Family Conflict and Depression in Single Parents: Focusing on the Mediating Effects of Parenting Stress

“…The analysis revealed a complete mediation effect of parenting stress in the relationship between work-family conflict and depression among single parents. These results were in line with existing literature [ [7], [10]]. However, these results differed from one existing study [3], which asserted that there was a significant influencing relationship between work-family conflict and depression.…”

“…Existing studies also support the relationship between work-family conflict and stress and between stress and depression. Nomaguchi and Johnson [10] asserted that work-family stress has a significant influence on the parenting stress, and Lee, Chun, Jeon, and Chung [7]reported that the parenting stress experienced by low-income mothers has a significant influence on depression.…”

Fathers' Parenting Stress After the Arrival of a New Child

“…The measures for our study included baseline variables (i.e., measured just after the child's birth and typically time invariant), change over Year 1 variables (i.e., change scores formed from Year 1 value – baseline value), and time‐varying variables over Years 1–5. Many of our measures were commonly used scales that were formed from subsets of questions within the Fragile Families Questionnaire (see, e.g., Bronte‐Tinkew et al, ; Knoester et al, ; McLanahan & Carlson, ; Nomaguchi & Johnson, ; Reichman et al, ). Indeed, the FFCW expressly sought to achieve high levels of reliability and validity in its measures by drawing from well‐established questions that were also used in other surveys (e.g., Early Head Start, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort).…”

“…Fathers who are older, White, employed, higher earning, well educated, and able to rely on instrumental support were expected to be less likely to experience parenting stress. They may be more mature, not subject to discrimination, established in their careers, and in possession of resources that can allow them to more easily meet the financial and domestic care demands of parenting (Bronte-Tinkew, 2007;Cunningham & Knoester, 2007;Nomaguchi & Johnson, 2014;Thoits, 2010).…”

“…In this context, the challenges of embracing, obtaining support for pursuing, and fulfilling the so-called new fatherhood ideal-where men are expected to be competent contributors to their families through the labor market as well as through direct caretaking and positive engagement activities in the home-were more profound. Also, the risks for parenting stress, and any consequences that may derive from it, were great (Bronte-Tinkew et al, 2010;McLanahan & Carlson, 2003;Nomaguchi & Johnson, 2014).…”