Father involvement in the care of children in Spain before and during the economic recession

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyse underlying factors of father involvement in the care of children. The importance of analysing childcare lies both in its high time requirement and in its relevance for the distribution of gender roles within couples. Physical care is where more intensely gender differences appear. The two waves of the Spanish Time Use Survey (2002-03 and 2009-10) serve to analyse the relationship between an increased time spent by fathers doing physical care and the growth of male unemployment during the economic crisis. The results show the relevance of unemployment in greater father involvement in physical childcare. Nevertheless, we should be wary of the sustainability through time of this greater commitment to physical childcare when male occupation starts to recover