Pattern and Determinants of Paternal Involvement in Childcare: An Empirical Investigation in a Metropolis of India

An analysis of various aspects of paternal involvement among Indian fathers is presented in this article. The pattern of involvement in terms of the activities participated in, and their frequency of participation have been examined. Overall level of involvement of fathers in childcare has also been...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Population research and policy review 2010-04, Vol.29 (2), p.249-273
Main Authors: Saraff, Anjula, Srivastava, Harish C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitude Change
Child care
Child Care Services
Child rearing
Childcare
Children
Children & youth
Cooperation
Couples
Demography
Determinants
Economic factors
Families & family life
Family Roles
Father
Fatherhood
Fathering
Fathers
Gender roles
Housework
Hypotheses
India
Men
Mothers
Parenthood
Parenting
Participation
Paternal involvement
Policy Making
Population
Population Economics
Regression analysis
Roles
Social change
Social Sciences
Society
Socioeconomics
Sociology
Wives
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Summary:An analysis of various aspects of paternal involvement among Indian fathers is presented in this article. The pattern of involvement in terms of the activities participated in, and their frequency of participation have been examined. Overall level of involvement of fathers in childcare has also been determined. A number of hypotheses regarding predictors of paternal involvement have been formulated and examined with the use of empirical data. The study is based on interviews conducted with Indian couples (N = 350) having at least one child aged 10 years or younger. To understand the determinants of paternal involvement, regression has been conducted wherein paternal involvement has been regressed with 14 predictors. Results indicate that paternal involvement in childcare is mainly determined by the perception of individuals towards fatherhood—be it gender role expectations, or perception of the peer group, or fathering received by the individual fathers. Other socio-economic factors affecting paternal involvement have also been examined. As the importance of paternal involvement in childcare is increasingly being recognised, these findings have implications for programmers and policy makers. Interventions to bring about a positive change in the attitude of fathers may improve paternal participation.
ISSN:0167-5923
1573-7829
DOI:10.1007/s11113-009-9139-4