Caregiving fathers in the workplace

Dr Jasmine Kelland explores the parental gender stereotypes inflicted on fathers in the workplace
Man remotely working from home on laptop with child beside him
 
The view of fatherhood, childcare, and work have altered over the last few decades, with many fathers taking a more active role in caregiving than before and altering their working patterns in line with this. However, such a wide involvement in caregiving for fathers can clash with traditional values about masculinity and work and gender inequality with regards to parenthood.
This results in caregiving fathers facing specific challenges identified as ‘fatherhood forfeits’. These pages provide more detail about the ‘fatherhood forfeits’ and how the 'fatherhood forfeits' can contribute to the gender pay gap. Additionally, it provides practical guidelines on how to support men with caregiving responsibilities and address the ‘fatherhood forfeits’ to improve equality in the workplace – to the benefit of the parents themselves, organisations and society more generally.
Download the full report

Download the full report 'Fatherhood Forfeits Post-COVID' by Dr Jasmine Kelland in partnership with Babbu.
Looking at the experiences of caregiving Fathers managing work and care in the Post-COVID environment.
Dr Jasmine Kelland is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management. Her work on the ‘fatherhood forfeit’ has been widely cited within the press (such as The Guardian, The Independent and New Scientist), by professional bodies (such as CIPD) and in numerous blogs and webinars. Her ‘fatherhood forfeit’ research has been published by the House of Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee, and referred to in a House of Commons debate exploring ‘Fathers in the Family’.
She has presented her research to the UK Parliament All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fatherhood, professional and international academic conferences and numerous organisations, and has discussed the challenges facing caregiving fathers through media outlets such as Sky News and BBC Radio.
Dr Jasmine Kelland stood next to her research stand on caregiving fathers in the workplace 
 

Watch Dr Jasmine Kelland explain her research into fathers in the workplace and the fatherhood forfeit

Conference contributions

Conference contributions

  • Fathers-Forfeits, Deficits and Disregarding Discourse (ESFR, Copenhagen, 2023)
  • “Is Daddy Daycare all it is cracked up to be? - Caregiving Fathers and the ‘Fatherhood Forfeit”, Work and Family Researchers Conference in (Washington, June, 2018)
  • “Daddy Daycare- Caregiving Fathers, ‘fatherhood forfeits’ and the ‘paternal perimeter”, CIPD Applied Research Conference, December 2017, Scotland
  • “Fatherhood Forfeits’ and ‘Motherhood Penalties’ – An Exploration of UK management selection decision making of parent applicants”, CIPD Applied Research Conference (London , December 2016)

In the press