Father’s Access to Flexible Schedules and Involvement in Childcare in France

Agata Kalamucka , University of Warsaw
Anne Solaz, INED
Anna Matysiak, University of Warsaw
Beata Osiewalska, University of Warsaw (1); Cracow University of Economics (2)

The paper investigates how fathers’ access to flexible working hours affects their childcare involvement and the division of care within couples in France. Drawing on the job demands–resources model and work–family border theory, we consider the dual nature of working-time flexibility: it may ease work–family conflict, but it can also heighten work demands. While flexibility is often presented as family-friendly, its use by men is ambivalent: some studies link flexibility to greater paternal participation, while others report no effect or even reduced family time. However, the effect on childcare involvement can vary depending on the type of task: mothers tend to take on most routine and cognitively demanding care, whereas fathers tend to be more involved in leisure and enrichment activities. Using data from the Families and Employers survey, we analyse a composite indicator of childcare division across task types, alongside parents’ reported childcare time. The analytic sample consists of 9,245 cohabiting couples with coresident children under age 15. Findings reveal that flexibility supports a more balanced division of childcare, particularly when fathers work not more than 40 hours or when mothers’ hours are similar to partner’s or longer. Effects are strongest for work-interfering tasks, while non-work-interfering activities remain largely unchanged. Interestingly, fathers’ overall childcare time does not increase, while mothers’ time declines. These findings suggest that flexibility acts as a mechanism of redistribution, shifting care from mothers to fathers without broadening paternal time investment.

See extended abstract

 Presented in Session 32. Flash Session Gender, Work and Labour Market