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Custodial Single Fathers before and during the COVID-19 Crisis: Work, Care, and Well-Being

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  • Aimzhan Iztayeva

    (Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota—Twin Cities, 267 19th Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA)

Abstract

As both paid and unpaid work were disrupted during the COVID-19 crisis, the two roles that working custodial single fathers occupy—breadwinners and caregivers—have intensified significantly. Using two independent sets of interviews, this study examines how custodial single fathers navigated work and caregiving responsibilities prior to COVID-19 and compares them to the experiences of single fathers interviewed during the pandemic. The findings are organized into three key themes. First, men with white-collar jobs experienced less work-family conflict than men with blue-collar jobs. The COVID-19 crisis further widened this divide as lack of flexibility put men with blue-collar jobs in a precarious position in the labor market. Second, the way single fathers arranged childcare varied with the availability of extended family and the coparenting relationship with the child(ren)’s mother. The pandemic significantly complicated these arrangements by removing men’s access to extended family and intensifying already conflicted coparenting relationships. Finally, prior to the pandemic, many single fathers struggled with lack of leisure time and diminished social support networks that shrunk with their initial break from their child(ren)’s mother. The resulting feelings of fatigue and loneliness seeped into men’s psychological well-being. COVID-19 and related social distancing measures further exacerbated single fathers’ isolation.

Suggested Citation

  • Aimzhan Iztayeva, 2021. "Custodial Single Fathers before and during the COVID-19 Crisis: Work, Care, and Well-Being," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-23, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:3:p:94-:d:512523
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    Cited by:

    1. Walsh, Tova B. & Hoffmeister, Michael & Zimmerman, Laura & Pate, David & Davidson, Darryl, 2024. "“I found the power of my presence”: Low income and noncustodial fathers’ experiences and insights from parenting young children through the COVID-19 pandemic," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    2. Daniel John D. Arboleda & Deborah Natalia E. Singson, 2022. "Bittersweet Metamorphosis: Lived Experiences of Emerging Adult Single Fathers on Parenting in a Rural Community," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 30(1), pages 426-441, April.
    3. Núria Sánchez-Mira & Laura Bernardi & Benjamin Moles-Kalt & Cléolia Sabot, 2021. "The Reshaping of Daily Time during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lone Parent’s Work-Family Articulation in a Low-Intensity Lockdown," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-25, June.

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