A model of fathers' behavioral involvement in child care in dual-earner families.

Fathers and mothers (n = 120) of preschool-aged children completed 2 measures assessing fathers ' behavioral involvement in child care (i.e., the amount of time that the father was the child's primary caregiver and the number of child-care tasks performed). The results reaffirm the findings from previous studies that father's long work hours can be a barrier to greater participation in child care but that mothers' extended work hours serve to increase father participation in child care. Women's perception of their husbands ' competence as parents and marital satisfaction also explain fathers ' involvement. Fathers ' gender role ideology and attitudes about the fathers ' role appear important for fathers ' involvement in child care, and findings indicate that men's involvement may be more self-determined than previously believed. In the past 30 years, women have increasingly moved into the paid labor force resulting in dual-earner families replacing traditional father-provider families. As a result of work and family changes, increasingly men are expected to be more actively involved and nurturing of then-children. At the same time, for many men, their greater involvement with children may reflect an internal value shift (see Levant, 1992; Marsi-