Do parents' flexible working hours affect fathers' contribution to domestic work? Evidence from a factorial survey

This paper investigates the impact of fathers' flexible working hours on their willingness to contribute to domestic work. We first hypothesize that fathers will contribute more if they have the possibility to work flexible hours. Second, fathers are assumed to contribute less if their female partners have the possibility to work flexible hours. We test our hypotheses using data from a vignette study, where fathers evaluate hypothetical job offers to their non-employed partner with regard to the contribution to domestic work they are willing to offer if their partner accepts the job. We find that fathers' flexible hours increase their willingness to contribute to childcare but not to household work, partially supporting hypothesis one. Regarding hypothesis two, we find no effects of the female partner's flexible working hours on fathers' contribution to childcare or household work. We conclude our paper with some policy implications.