Walking a High Beam

Abstract

Compared with resident fathers, nonresident fathers are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed and less likely, when they are employed, to have access to flexible work arrangements. Although lack of employment stability is associated with lower levels of father involvement, some research shows that increased stability at work without increased flexibility is negatively related to involvement. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 895), the authors examined the relationship between nonresident fathers' employment stability, workplace flexibility, and father involvement. Results indicate that workplace flexibility, but not employment stability, is associated with higher levels of involvement. Policy and practice implications are discussed.

Nonstandard Work Schedules and Father Involvement Among Resident and Nonresident Fathers

“…Working a variable schedule that changes each week could also make it difficult to participate in family routines, and for nonresident fathers, to plan for visitation with their child. Alternatively, a variable work schedule could instead indicate that fathers have flexibility over when they work, and this could increase fathers' involvement with their child (Castillo, Welch, & Sarver, 2012). For nonresident fathers especially, this flexibility may facilitate aligning their work schedules with visitation, which may also increase the likelihood that they contribute child support.…”

“…Little is known about how work schedules are related to father involvement among nonresident fathers. Castillo et al (2012) estimated associations between nonresident fathers' job stability, work hours, work schedule flexibility, and the total number of different types of daytime and nonstandard shifts worked and fathers' engagement with their infant child. Nonresident fathers' work schedule flexibility was associated with higher levels of engagement but work hours or working multiple types of shifts were not.…”

“…Nonresident fathers' work schedule flexibility was associated with higher levels of engagement but work hours or working multiple types of shifts were not. Our study builds on Castillo et al (2012) in several ways. We focus on the timing of work schedules, whether fathers work standard hours only versus any type of nonstandard schedule and versus specific types of nonstandard schedules, and we examine multiple dimensions of involvement, including accessibility and responsibility.…”

A Review of How Researchers Have Used Theory to Address Research Questions About Fathers in Three Large Data Sets

“…Few FFCW studies have examined the associations between systems outside of the family (e.g., community) and fathering. One exception was the study of workplace influences and father involvement with children conducted by Castillo et al (2012). Zhang and Fuller's (2012) study of nonresident and resident fathers' involvement with young children was one of the few that assessed the association between neighborhood variables and father involvement.…”

Parents’ Relative Socioeconomic Status and Paternal Involvement in Chinese Families: The Mediating Role of Coparenting

“…Therefore, researchers have a strong interest in investigating factors that could facilitate paternal involvement ( Schoppe-Sullivan et al, 2008 ). Scholars have reported a significant effect of socioeconomic factors ( Roopnarine et al, 2005 ; McLanahan and Beck, 2010 ), such as paternal income ( Castillo et al, 2012 ), paid employment ( Pinto and Coltrane, 2009 ), educational level ( Hossain and Shipman, 2009 ; Bronte-Tinkew et al, 2010 ) and maternal employment ( Barnett and Baruch, 1987 ; Suppal and Roopnarine, 1999 ), on paternal involvement. Most of these studies considered paternal and maternal socioeconomic status (SES) separately, and parents’ relative SES has not received sufficient attention.…”