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[Objective:] This study examines whether paternal part-time employment is related to greater involvement by fathers in child care and housework, both while fathers are working part-time and after they return to full-time employment. [Background:] The study draws on four strands of theory—time availability, bargaining, gender ideology, and gender construction. It studies couples' division of labor in Germany, where policies increasingly support a dual-earner, dual-carer model. [Method:] The study uses data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 1991 to 2015 on employed adult fathers living together with at least one child younger than age 17 and the mother. The analytic sample comprises 51,230 observations on 8,915 fathers. Fixed effects regression techniques are used to estimate the effect of (previous) part-time employment on fathers' child-care hours, housework hours, and share of child care and housework. [Results:] Fathers did more child care and housework while they worked part time. Yet, most fathers reverted to previous levels of involvement after returning to full-time work. The only exception was fathers with partners in full-time employment, who spent more time doing child care and took on a greater share of housework after part-time employment than before. [Conclusion:] The findings are largely consistent with the time availability perspective, although the results for fathers with full-time employed partners indicate that the relative resources and gender ideology perspectives have some explanatory power as well.

Dieser Beitrag geht den Fragen nach, welche Formen des Zusammenlebens von der Bevölkerung als Familie angesehen werden und wie verschiedene Familienformen von den Menschen in Deutschland bewertet werden. Wird die moderne Kleinfamilie immer noch als die beste Familienform angesehen und werden andere Familienformen im Vergleich dazu negativ bewertet? Oder sind alternative Familienformen inzwischen gesellschaftlich akzeptiert und werden als positiv bzw. gleichwertig zur modernen Kleinfamilie eingestuft? Um diese Fragen zu beantworten, zieht der Beitrag Ergebnisse der Allgemeinen Bevölkerungsumfrage der Sozialwissenschaften (ALLBUS) und des International Social Survey Programmes (ISSP) heran. Der ALLBUS erhebt seit 1980 alle zwei Jahre aktuelle Daten über Einstellungen, Verhaltensweisen und Sozialstruktur der Bevölkerung und umfasst jeweils eine Stichprobe von etwa 3000 Personen, die repräsentativ für die deutsche Bevölkerung ist. Einstellungen zur Familie werden in unregelmäßigen Abständen erfasst. Das ISSP wird seit 1985 jährlich mit wechselnden Themenschwerpunkten erhoben und umfasst mittlerweile 45 Länder. Einstellungen zu Familie und Geschlechterrollen waren in den Jahren 1988, 1994, 2002 und 2012 Schwerpunktthema. Die deutsche Stichprobe des ISSP wird über den ALLBUS gewonnen und umfasst je nach Jahr zwischen 1300 und 3300 Personen.

Studien zeigen, dass sich viele Väter in Deutschland wünschen, mehr Zeit mit ihren Kindern zu verbringen, dies aufgrund von langen Arbeitszeiten jedoch oft nicht umsetzen können. Elternzeit und Teilzeitarbeit könnten Optionen sein, die Vätern eine bessere Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf ermöglichen. Arbeitsmarkttheorien legen jedoch nahe, dass die Inanspruchnahme solcher Maßnahmen mit Lohneinbußen verbunden ist. Dementsprechend entscheiden sich derzeit viele Väter gegen diese Möglichkeiten zur Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf, da sie finanzielle Einbußen und Karrierenachteile befürchten. Um zu überprüfen, inwieweit diese Erwartungen empirisch fundiert sind, untersucht diese Arbeit daher den Einfluss von Elternzeit und Teilzeitarbeit auf die Stundenlöhne von Vätern. Fixed Effects-Analysen auf Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) 1991–2013 und Familien in Deutschland (FiD) 2010–2013 zeigen, dass Teilzeitarbeit mit Lohneinbußen verbunden ist. Eine Elternzeit wirkt sich hingegen nicht auf die Löhne von Vätern aus – unabhängig davon, ob Väter nur die beiden für sie reservierten Partnermonate oder eine längere Elternzeit in Anspruch nehmen. Die Ergebnisse deuten somit darauf hin, dass die gesetzliche Elternzeit Vätern einen Rahmen bietet, in dem sie sich stärker in ihren Familien engagieren können, ohne berufliche Nachteile zu erfahren. ; As previous research shows, many German fathers would like to spend more time with their children, but long working hours often restrict their opportunities to do so. Parental leave and part-time work could help fathers to reconcile work and family. Yet, labor market theories predict that using such family-friendly policies may lead to wage penalties. Hence, many fathers decide against using such policies because they fear that parental leave or part-time work will lead to financial penalties and career disadvantages. This article evaluates this concern by empirically examining the effect of parental leave and part-time work on fathers' hourly wages. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) 1991–2013 and Families in Germany (FiD) 2010–2013, results from fixed-effects regression analyses show that part-time work is associated with wage penalties, but parental leave is not – irrespective of whether fathers only took the two months fathers' quota or longer parental leaves. The results hence indicate that the German parental leave legislation enables fathers to spend more time with their children while protecting them from wage penalties at work.

"Studien zeigen, dass sich viele Väter in Deutschland wünschen, mehr Zeit mit ihren Kindern zu verbringen, dies aufgrund von langen Arbeitszeiten jedoch oft nicht umsetzen können. Elternzeit und Teilzeitarbeit könnten Optionen sein, die Vätern eine bessere Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf ermöglichen. Arbeitsmarkttheorien legen jedoch nahe, dass die Inanspruchnahme solcher Maßnahmen mit Lohneinbußen verbunden ist. Dementsprechend entscheiden sich derzeit viele Väter gegen diese Möglichkeiten zur Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf, da sie finanzielle Einbußen und Karrierenachteile befürchten. Um zu überprüfen, inwieweit diese Erwartungen empirisch fundiert sind, untersucht diese Arbeit daher den Einfluss von Elternzeit und Teilzeitarbeit auf die Stundenlöhne von Vätern. Fixed Effects-Analysen auf Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) 1991 - 2013 und Familien in Deutschland (FiD) 2010 - 2013 zeigen, dass Teilzeitarbeit mit Lohneinbußen verbunden ist. Eine Elternzeit wirkt sich hingegen nicht auf die Löhne von Vätern aus - unabhängig davon, ob Väter nur die beiden für sie reservierten Partnermonate oder eine längere Elternzeit in Anspruch nehmen. Die Ergebnisse deuten somit darauf hin, dass die gesetzliche Elternzeit Vätern einen Rahmen bietet, in dem sie sich stärker in ihren Familien engagieren können, ohne berufliche Nachteile zu erfahren." (Autorenreferat, © Springer-Verlag)

The German parental leave reform of 2007 created a new incentive for men to take parental leave by introducing 'daddy months': 2 months of well-remunerated leave exclusively reserved for fathers. Against the backdrop of the reform, this study examines how fathers' uptake of parental leave affects the amount of time they spend on paid work, housework, and childcare after the leave has ended. It investigates whether the effect of parental leave differs by the length of leave taken and by whether fathers took the leave alone or at the same time as their partners. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 2006 to 2012 and Families in Germany from 2010 to 2012, the results of fixed-effects regressions indicate that fathers who took parental leave subsequently reallocated their time from work to home. They reduced their working hours and increased their involvement in childcare even after short and joint periods of parental leave. But only those who took >2 months of leave or were on leave while their partner was working subsequently increased their participation in housework. Hence, fathers increased their involvement in childcare already after short leaves, whereas enhanced gender equality in couples' division of labour especially emerged after longer or solo leaves.

This study analyzes how an unsupportive organizational work-family culture experienced by one employed parent at work can cross over to their partner and reduce the latter's satisfaction with work-family balance (WFBS). Workplace cultures that are structured around the "ideal worker" norm have enormous and often detrimental impacts on parents' abilities to manage work and family roles. Drawing on crossover theory, we argue that these kinds of unsupportive work-family cultures have adverse consequences, not only for working parents but also for their partners. We hypothesize that if one partner experiences an unsupportive work-family culture, they can provide less instrumental and emotional support to the other partner, which reduces the other partner's WFBS. We use a unique dataset of 556 dual-earner couples with young children surveyed in Germany in 2015 and perform multivariate regression analysis and structural equation modelling. We find robust evidence that mothers were less satisfied with work-family balance if fathers reported an unsupportive work-family culture in their organization. There was only weak evidence, however, for crossover between an unsupportive work-family culture at the mother's workplace and the father's WFBS. Mediation analysis suggests that these associations were transmitted in part through reduced emotional support, whereas instrumental support did not appear to play a role. The findings lend support to the argument that an unsupportive work-family culture in one parent's workplace reduces the emotional support they provide to their partner, which reduces the partner's WFBS.

This study examines how public policies affect parents' preferences for a more egalitarian division of paid and unpaid work. Based on the assumption that individuals develop their preferences within a specific policy context, we examine how changes in three policies affect mothers' and fathers' work–family preferences: the availability of high-quality, affordable childcare; the right to return to a full-time job after having reduced hours to part-time and an increase in the number of 'partner months' in parental leave schemes. Analysing a unique probability sample of parents with young children in Germany from 2015 ( N = 1756), we find that fathers would want to work slightly fewer hours if they had the right to return to a full-time position after working part-time, and mothers would want to work slightly more hours if childcare opportunities were improved. Full-time working parents, moreover, are found to prefer fewer hours independent of the policy setting, while non-employed parents would like to work at least some hours. Last but not least, our analyses show that increasing the number of partner months in the parental leave scheme considerably increases fathers' preferences for longer and mothers' preferences for shorter leave. Increasing the number of partner months in parental schemes hence has the greatest potential to increase gender equality.

Wie hat sich die COVID-19 Pandemie auf geschlechtsspezifische Ungleichheiten im Arbeitsleben und dem subjektiven Wohlbefinden Erwerbstätiger ausgewirkt? Zur Beantwortung dieser Frage analysiert dieser Beitrag drei Wellen einer nicht zufallsbasierten Onlinestichprobe für den Zeitraum Mitte März bis Anfang August 2020 und umfassen damit den Zeitraum des ersten Lockdowns. Die Ergebnisse unserer multivariaten Analysen zeigen: Frauen, Eltern und insbesondere Mütter waren überdurchschnittlich von Arbeitszeitreduzierungen betroffen. Bei der Wahrscheinlichkeit im Homeoffice zu arbeiten gab es nur geringfügige Unterschiede nach Geschlecht und Familiensituation. Die Zufriedenheit mit der Arbeit, dem Familienleben und dem Leben insgesamt ging bei Frauen, Eltern und insbesondere Müttern überproportional stark zurück. Die beobachteten Unterschiede verringern sich gegen Ende des Lockdowns wieder, jedoch unterschiedlich stark für die einzelnen Ergebnisdimensionen.
Abstract: Gender Inequalities in Employment and Subjective-Wellbeing among the Employed during the COVID-19 Pandemic
How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected gender inequalities in employment and the subjective well-being of the employed? To answer this question, we analyze three waves of a non-randomized online-survey from mid-March to the beginning of August 2020. The results of our multivariate analyses show: Women, parents, and especially mothers were disproportionately affected by working-time reductions. The likelihood of working from home differed only marginally by gender and family situation. Declines in satisfaction with work, family life and life in general were stronger among women, parents, and especially mothers. The observed differences decreased towards the end of the lockdown-phase, though to different extends for different outcomes.

Drawing on three waves of survey data from a non-probability sample from Germany, this paper examines two opposing expectations about the pandemic's impacts on gender equality: The optimistic view suggests that gender equality has increased, as essential workers in Germany have been predominantly female and as fathers have had more time for childcare. The pessimistic view posits that lockdowns have also negatively affected women's jobs and that mothers had to shoulder the additional care responsibilities. Overall, our exploratory analyses provide more evidence supporting the latter view. Parents were more likely than non-parents to work fewer hours during the pandemic than before, and mothers were more likely than fathers to work fewer hours once lockdowns were lifted. Moreover, even though parents tended to divide childcare more evenly, at least temporarily, mothers still shouldered more childcare work than fathers. The division of housework remained largely unchanged. It is therefore unsurprising that women, in particular mothers, reported lower satisfaction during the observation period. Essential workers experienced fewer changes in their working lives than respondents in other occupations.

"Viele Väter wünschen sich kürzere Arbeitszeiten, setzen diesen Wunsch jedoch nicht um. Studien zur Rolle von Arbeitsorganisationen für die Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf lassen ungünstige betriebliche Rahmenbedingungen als einen wichtigen Hinderungsgrund vermuten. Quantitative Studien stehen mangels Datengrundlage jedoch bislang weitgehend aus. Basierend auf einer AID:A-Zusatzbefragung von 878 Elternpaaren aus dem Jahr 2015 untersucht dieser Beitrag Zusammenhänge zwischen betriebskulturellen und -strukturellen Faktoren und den Arbeitszeiten von Vätern. Dabei differenzieren wir zwischen Teilzeitarbeit, vertraglichen und tatsächlichen Arbeitszeiten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen einen robusten Zusammenhang zwischen dem Ausmaß an formellen, allgemeingültigen und transparenten Regelungen im Betrieb und kürzeren Arbeitszeiten von Vätern. Verfügbarkeits- und Vertretungskulturen sind offenbar besonders dafür relevant, ob vertragliche Arbeitszeiten auch eingehalten werden. Überraschend haben Väter umso längere vertragliche Arbeitszeiten, je stärker sie sich von ihren Vorgesetzten unterstützt fühlen. Die Ergebnisse weisen auch darauf hin, dass günstige kulturelle Rahmenbedingungen für kürzere Arbeitszeiten von Vätern in vielen Branchen und Betrieben unterschiedlicher Größe möglich sind." (Autorenreferat)

An increasing proportion of the European labor force works in the evening, at night or on weekends. Because nonstandard work schedules are associated with a number of negative outcomes for families and children, parents may seek to avoid such schedules. However, for parents with insufficient access to formal child care, working nonstandard hours or days may be an adaptive strategy used to manage child-care needs. It enables 'split-shift' parenting, where parents work alternate schedules, allowing one of the two to be at home looking after the children. This study examines the prevalence of nonstandard work schedules among parents and nonparents in 22 European countries. Specifically, we ask whether the provision of formal child care influences the extent to which parents of preschool-aged children work nonstandard schedules. Using data from the European Social Survey and multilevel models, we find evidence that the availability of formal child care reduces nonstandard work among parents. This indicates that access to formal child care enables parents to work standard schedules. To the extent that nonstandard work schedules are negatively associated with child well-being, access to formal child care protects children from the adverse effects of their parents' evening and night work.

Despite extensive research on the effect of family policies on the labour supply of mothers, little is known about how these policies affect fathers' labour market outcomes. Using European panel data (EU-SILC) from 2003 to 2009 and multi-level models, this study analyses the effect of family policies on fathers' working hours. The results indicate that fathers work less than childless men if they live in countries that offer well paid, non-transferable parental leave for fathers, short parental leave for mothers and generous family allowances. The effects, however, are strongly contingent on fathers' educational levels. Whereas short maternal leaves are associated with shorter working hours among highly educated fathers, generous family allowances and father friendly parental leave schemes reduce the working hours of less educated fathers.

This paper examines the context dependency of attitudes toward maternal employment. We test three sets of factors that may affect these attitudes—economic benefits, normative obligations, and child-related consequences—by analyzing data from a unique survey experimental design implemented in a large-scale household panel survey in Germany (17,388 observations from 3,494 respondents). Our results show that the economic benefits associated with maternal employment are the most important predictor of attitudes supporting maternal employment. Moreover, we find that attitudes toward maternal employment vary by individual, household, and contextual characteristics (in particular, childcare quality). We interpret this variation as an indication that negative attitudes toward maternal employment do not necessarily reflect gender essentialism; rather, gender role attitudes are contingent upon the frames individuals have in mind.

Dieses Fact Sheet stellt dar, wie sich der Anteil älterer Menschen, die in einer Partnerschaft leben, zwischen 1996 und 2020/21 verändert hat. Es handelt sich um Befunde des Deutschen Alterssurveys (DEAS).