2026/01/13 by Carla Brega, Mara A. Yerkes, Marc Grau-Grau · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Work-Family Balance Challenges #Family Dynamics and Relationships #Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
paper · doi:10.1177/09500170251386322
openalex publication_date 2026/01/13 · openalex created_date 2026/01/14 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Flexible work arrangements significantly impact childcare divisions among dual-earner parents, yet few studies address their impact on fathers as primary caregivers. This article explores the relationship between fathers’ ability to work flexibly and their share of childcare responsibility across financial situations. A capabilities perspective is applied to better understand why fathers’ childcare aspirations may not align with what they are capable of in practice. Using 2021 survey data on fathers ( n = 493) and mothers ( n = 472) of young children in different-sex partnerships from four European countries, multinomial logistic regressions are estimated to predict childcare responsibility. Findings suggest fathers’ spatial flexibility (working from home) increases their likelihood of being the person primarily responsible for childcare, whereas temporal flexibility (varying the start/end times of the working day) does not. Economic conditions influence these dynamics, with financially strained fathers benefiting most from spatial flexibility.