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Fathers, in general, are spending significantly more time in childcare
activities today than in the past (Sayer
et al
., 2004). Yet, they are relatively
rarely alone with their children and instead join their wives as helpers in
the task (Craig, 2006), which has potential effects on father-child relations.
Dollahite
et al
. (1997) developed the concept of
generative fathering
to describe
fathering that responds readily and consistently to a child's developmental
needs over time. Fathers primarily connect with their children through
shared leisure activities (Brotherson
et al.
, 2005), which makes them more
satisfied with their lives (Eggebeen & Knoester, 2001). Spending time with
the kids is also a notion that is deeply embedded in the social discourse
about being a good father (Daly, 1996b) rather than being inherited from
their own fathers. The ideology of fatherhood has an effect not only on the
meaning of family time for fathers and their desire for more time with their
children but also on their identity formation (Allen & Daly, 2005) and is
embedded in their parenthood role.
It has to be remembered in any discussion of gender that a review of the
literature concluded that men and women are far more alike than they are
different (Kimmel, 2004). Hence
parenthood
is all about collaboration and
sharing of similar goals in rearing children. Current cultural ideals of parent-
hood are shaped by both inherited gender traditions and the desire for new
and more balanced practices which convey a sense of what parents should
do (Daly, 2004). For example, parents in the USA engage in 'concerted culti-
vation' by actively fostering children's talents and skills through organised
activities at the expense of the parents' leisure preferences (Lareau, 2003),
which points to behavioural shifts that privilege time with children over
other activities (Bianchi
et al
., 2006). This is coupled with people having
smaller families, in which it is possible for each child to be in a sense 'more
precious' (Sayer
et al.
, 2004), resulting in shifting power relationships
between parents and children, especially parents' increasing psychological
investment in their children (Mintz, 2004). The age of the youngest child
is another factor that shapes parental feelings about time with children.
Parents of young children tend to spend more focused time with them and
feel more time strain than do those with older children (Milkie
et al
., 2004).
It can be with a tone of self-sacrifice that parents emphasise the greater
importance of family time for their children (Daly, 2001). The culture of
parenting is one that not only requires adaptability to societal change but
also involves fundamental change in the generational relationship, affecting
the meaning of family time for children.
The conception of
childhood
in today's society is built around the
emotionally priceless child (Zelizer, 1985). Many years of study have shown
that parents are the key in predicting child developmental outcomes, but
parents are also influenced by their children and the child has a key influence
in family dynamics (Crouter & Booth, 2003). The parent-child relationship,
then, becomes an interactive process, one of mutual influence (Handel
et al
.,
