Working Fathers Podcast

Welcome to Working Fathers, a podcast about dads, families and work. We look at the many different roles fathers play in contemporary Australian families and society and how policy can better recognise, value and support. Listen to the podcast via the links to each episode found below, or on your preferred podcast provider. The creators of the podcast Professor Cordelia Fine – …

Our starting point is the large gender gap in time spent directly caring for children in economically developed and relatively gender egalitarian societies like Australia. Things aren't what they were 50 years ago. Mothers, particularly of younger children, are more likely to do paid work than they were in the past. But it's still quite rare for men to be …

The family as an institution has changed significantly across time and place. How people divide labour within and beyond the family unit has been in flux throughout human history. The current model of fatherhood in many Western nations, including Australia, is a modified version of what we usually call the breadwinner model, where one parent is designated the primary earner …

How much freedom do fathers have? Do fathers have real choices when it comes to decisions about how to divide their time between paid work and caring for the kids at home? And where do government and organisational policies fit in? One of the major societal changes of the past century has been the rise of female employment, particularly in …

In this episode, we look at more of the pressures that prevent fathers from being active and equal caregivers in their children's lives. In particular, we look at the gender norms that dictate what it means to be a good man, and the social norms that dictate what it means to be a good worker – and ask what this …

What’s next for Australian fathers? In this episode, we look at the future of fatherhood. So far, one thing all of our guests seem to agree on is that, for many families, current arrangements aren't working as well as they could. Expectations on men as fathers are expanding, but without much of a lessening of demands from employers. External factors, …