Abstract
Seventy European American families with 6-month-old infants participated in this investigation of current parenting roles. Parental reports and observations revealed that mothers were more involved with the infants and fathers were employed outside the home more hours per week than mothers. Both parents rated the mother as a better caretaker of the infant than the father. The mother rated the father's caretaking abilities higher than he rated himself. In concordance with previous research, maternal concerns about separations related to employment were found to be influenced by maternal employment factors. Paternal concerns about separations related to employment were also influenced by maternal employment factors. Changes in parenting roles were discussed.
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Preparation of this article was made possible by an Indiana University Southeast Summer Faculty Fellowship Award. I wish to thank the families who participated in this research project and the following research assistants: Leslie Angel, Rhonda Bottorff, Kathryn Haendiges, Cora McNab, Beth Smith, and Sandi Wiseheart.
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Wille, D.E. The 1990s: Gender differences in parenting roles. Sex Roles 33, 803–817 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01544780
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01544780