British dads now do four times more childcare than they did 60 years ago (but still do half as much as mums!), study finds

British fathers spend four times more time looking after their children than in the 1960s – but still far less than mothers.

A British study analyzed the time parents spend on childcare over more than 50 years.

It found that parents got away with caring for their children for just 18 minutes a day on average in the 1960s.

This rose fourfold to an average of 1 hour and 11 minutes per day in 2015.

But despite the rise of hands-on parents, fathers still manage less than half of the time mothers spend on childcare, which reached 2 hours and 42 minutes per day in 2015.

The childcare figures, from parents of children under 12, are based on national surveys of around 4,600 people, conducted between 1961 and 2015.

Childcare includes feeding children and keeping them clean, but also promoting their development by reading to them and teaching them things.

Dr Giacomo Vanni, who conducted the study from the University of Essex, said: ‘In recent decades we have seen the rise of ‘career parenting’, where parents listen to podcasts, read books and develop strategies on how to raise their children. better.

“It’s very different from the 1960s, when kids were left to run around and do their own things a lot.

“Most of this parenting information is aimed at mothers, which is why women still spend much more time caring for children than fathers.

“But this means that parents are falling behind in terms of caregiving responsibilities, including important developmental childcare such as reading to children, teaching them things and playing with them.”

The study, published in the Journal of Time Use Research, found that the rise in time spent by fathers on childcare was most significant between 1974 and 1983.

Dr. Vagney points out that this happened when families began to focus on parenting strategies to enhance their children’s development and help them get ahead, amid a tough economy and increased competition for jobs.

Since then, more books offering advice on raising children have appeared, and more middle-class families have emerged.

Dr Fagney said: ‘Time spent on childcare continues to rise, perhaps because middle-class families fear losing their social status.’

Mothers increased the time they spend caring for children by 68 percent, from about an hour and a half each day in 1961 to 2 hours and 42 minutes in 2015 (stock photo)

“They fear that their children will not reach the same social class, so they spend time giving them the tools to do so.

“Parents and society in general have become keenly aware that time spent caring for a child can be life-changing for a child.

“But we need to close the gap in childcare time provided by mothers with different levels of education, because this gap can create inequality in the long term.”

The study found that women with a college degree, who may be more aware of their children’s social status and competition for college places and professional jobs, spent nearly 20 more minutes a day on childcare than women without a college degree.

This is despite the fact that highly educated mothers have significantly longer working hours.

They seem to be giving up more free time to focus on their children.

Women with a degree spend about an additional nine minutes a day, or nearly an hour a week, on the type of child care that is important for a child’s development, such as reading and teaching.

Women also appear to prioritize childcare over having a clean home, as mothers’ daily time spent on housework decreased as time spent on childcare rose.

Mothers increased the time they spent caring for their children by 68%, from about an hour and a half each day in 1961 to two hours and 42 minutes in 2015.

They spend about 44 minutes a day on their children’s development, according to the latest figures, while parents spend just 26 minutes a day.