Becoming primary caregivers? Unemployed fathers caring alone in Spain

Datos Bibliográficos

ID13009293
AutoresConcepción Castrillo (0000-0002-9401-9639, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, autor de correspondencia), Jesús Rogero-García (0000-0001-8813-2929, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Pedro Romero-Balsas (0000-0003-2497-7927, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Gerardo Meil (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid)
Año2020
Volumen10
Número3
Páginas517-533
Fecha de publicación2020-07-18
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaFamilies Relationships and Societies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2046-7435 • E-ISSN: 2046-7443
EditorialPolicy Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1332/204674320x15919852635855
OpenAlexW3042391195
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas19

This article analyses how unemployed fathers with employed partners broach childcare and how they conceive of their own identities. It aims primarily to determine whether these fathers actually play the part of primary caregivers. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with 26 unemployed fathers who spent at least three months caring for their children. The findings show that these fathers engaged intensively in a wide variety of caring tasks. Nonetheless, their role as primary caregivers is called into question on the grounds of attitude. They tended to take for granted that they should set aside time and space for themselves, adding to their partners’ dual workload. Moreover, the overall responsibility for care fell largely on mothers. Subjectively speaking, while one group of fathers resorted to egalitarian precepts to normalise their situation, for many others, the inability to meet the standard expectations of traditional masculinity prompted an identity conflict

Aside · Fell · Identity (music · Masculinity · Variety (cybernetics · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Work-Family Balance Challenges