Sociology Faculty Publications

Title

Doing the Scut Work of Infant Care: Does Religiousness Encourage Father Involvement?

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Considerable debate exists regarding whether religiousness promotes or impedes greater father involvement in parenting. Our study addresses this issue using a Midwestern longitudinal dataset that tracks the transition to first parenthood for 169 married couples. We focus on performance of the "messier" tasks of infant care. We find little evidence that religiousness enhances father involvement in this domain. Biblically conservative couples exhibit a greater gender gap in childcare than others, with mothers more involved than fathers. The gender gap is also greater the more fathers work outside the home, the greater mothers' knowledge of infant development, and the more unadaptable the infant. Average daily childcare is lower the greater spouses' work hours, but higher with difficult pregnancies or fussy babies.

Publisher's Statement

Availability via databases maintained by the United States National Library of Medicine.

Publication Date

4-2011

Publication Title

Journal of Marriage and the Family

Start Page No.

354

End Page No.

368

Link to Full Text
COinS