Working part-time? A comparison of part-time employment among fathers in Germany, Sweden, Ireland and the Netherlands

In the current discussions on combining work and family life, the idea of shorter working hours for fathers is becoming ever more popular. Although the proportion of part-time working men has somewhat increased in the last few years, part-time employment has been largely studied for women and mothers. Much less is known about men's, and particularly fathers', part-time employment. This study seeks to fill this gap by analysing part-time work among fathers in Germany, Sweden, Ireland, and the Netherlands using data from the European Labour Force Survey (LFS) from the year 2014. We show that fathers' lower earning capacity within couples is not associated with a higher probability of working part-time in any of the four countries. Irrespective of the occupational status differences within couples, fathers in Germany and Ireland with three or more children are more likely to work part-time than fathers with fewer children; moreover, in both countries, married fathers are less likely to work part-time than unmarried fathers. While fathers of small children in the Netherlands are more likely to work part-time if they have a lower occupational status than their female partners, these fathers are less likely to work part-time in Ireland.