How involved are involved fathers in Hungary? Exploring caring masculinities in a post-socialist context

Author:
Judit Takács Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

Search for other papers by Judit Takács in
Current site
Google Scholar Close
Article Category:
Research Article
Copyright:
© Policy Press 2020
Online Publication Date:
23 Aug 2019
Pages:
487–502
Publisher:
Policy Press
Volume/Issue:
Volume 9: Issue 3
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1332/204674319X15592179267974
Restricted access
Get eTOC alerts
Rights and permissions Cite this article
Buy article/chapter (
GBP  £25.00
)

This study examines what can enable or constrain Hungarian fathers to be actively involved in care through analysing interviews by applying Hanlon’s approach to caring masculinities as valued identities for men and Dermott’s concept of intimate fathering. The empirical base of this qualitative study – the first of its kind in Hungary – is a collection of 55 semi-structured in-depth interviews. Several interrelated factors were shown as potentially enabling or constraining men’s active engagement in their paternal role, including work- and work–life balance-related factors, practical cost-benefit calculations, quality of life concerns, childhood socialisation patterns and attitudes towards the gendered parenting models of one’s own parents.

  • Björk, S. (2013) ‘Doing morally intelligible fatherhood. Swedish fathers’ accounts of their parental part time work choices’, Fathering, 11(2), 221–237.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Brandth, B., Kvande, E. (2001) ‘Flexible work and flexible fathers’, Work, Employment & Society, 15(2), 251–67. doi: 10.1177/09500170122118940

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Braun, V., Clarke, V. (2006) ‘Using thematic analysis in psychology’, Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Bryan, D. M. (2013) ‘To parent or provide? The effect of the provider role on low-income men’s decisions about fatherhood and paternal engagement’, Fathering, 11(1), 71–89. doi: 10.3149/fth.1101.71

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Chesley, N. (2011) ‘Stay-at-home fathers and breadwinning mothers: gender, couple dynamics, and social change’, Gender & Society, 25(5), 642–664. doi: 10.1177/0891243211417433

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Coles, R. L. (2009) ‘‘Just doing what they gotta do’. Single black custodial fathers coping with the stresses and reaping the rewards of parenting’, Journal of Family Issues, 30(10), 1311–1338. doi: 10.1177/0192513X09339290

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Coltrane, S., Miller, E., DeHaan, T., Stewart, L. (2013) ‘Fathers and the flexibility stigma’, Journal of Social Issues, 69(2), 279–302. doi: 10.1111/josi.12015

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Connell, R. W. (2002) Gender (Cambridge: Polity Press).

  • Dermott, E. (2003) ‘The ‘intimate father’: Defining paternal involvement’, Sociological Research Online, 8(4), www.socresonline.org.uk/8/4/dermott.html. doi: 10.5153/sro.859

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Dermott, E. (2008) The Intimate Father. A Sociological Analysis (London: Routledge).

  • Dermott, E., Pomati, M. (2016) ‘‘Good’ parenting practices: how important are poverty, education and time pressure?’, Sociology, 50(1), 125–142. doi: 10.1177/0038038514560260

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Deutsch, F. M., Saxon, S. E. (1998) ‘Traditional ideologies, nontraditional lives’, Sex Roles, 38(5/6), 331–362. doi: 10.1023/A:1018749620033

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Doucet, A. (2004) ‘‘It’s almost like I have a job, but I don’t get paid’: fathers at home reconfiguring work, care, and masculinity’, Fathering, 2(3), 277–303. doi: 10.3149/fth.0203.277

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Doucet, A., Lee, R. (2014) ‘Fathering, feminism(s), gender, and sexualities: connections, tensions, and new pathways’, Journal of Family Theory & Review, 6(4), 355–373. doi: 10.1111/jftr.12051

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Doucet, A., Merla, L. (2007) ‘Stay-at-home fathering: a strategy for balancing work and home in Canadian and Belgian families’, Community, Work and Family, 10(4), 455–473. doi: 10.1080/13668800701575101

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Dupcsik, Cs., Tóth, O. (2014) ‘Family systems and family values in twenty-first-century Hungary’, Family and Social Change in Socialist and Post-Socialist Societies, ed. Zs. Rajkai (Leiden: Brill), pp 210–249.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Duyvendak, J. W., Stavenuiter, M. (2004) Working Fathers, Caring Men. Reconciliation of Working Life and Family Life (The Hague/Utrecht: Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment – Verwey-Jonker Instituut).

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Esping-Andersen, G. (2009) The Incomplete Revolution. Adapting to Women’s New Roles (Cambridge: Polity Press).

  • Fraser, N. (1997) Justice Interruptus: Critical Reflections on the ‘Postsocialist’ Condition (New York: Routledge).

  • Geszler, N. (2016) ‘Behaviour-based work–family conflict among Hungarian manager fathers’, Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics, 2(3), 118–136.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Giddens, A. (1992) The Transformation of Intimacy (Cambridge: Polity Press).

  • Hanlon, N. (2012) Masculinities, Care and Equality: Identity and Nurture in Men’s Lives (London: Palgrave Macmillan).

  • Hobson, B., Fahlén, S. (2009), ‘Competing scenarios for European fathers: applying Sen’s capabilities and agency framework to work–family balance’, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 624(1), 214–233. doi: 10.1177/0002716209334435

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hobson, B., Fahlén, S., Takács, J. (2011) ‘Agency and capabilities to achieve a work–life balance: a comparison of Sweden and Hungary’, Social Politics, 18(2), 168–198. doi: 10.1093/sp/jxr007

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hobson, B., Morgan, D. (2002) ‘Introduction’, Making Men into Fathers. Men, Masculinities and the Social Politics of Fatherhood, ed. B. Hobson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp 1–21.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Hochschild, A. (2012) The Second Shift (New York: Penguin Books).

  • Holter, Ø. G. (2003) Can Men Do It? Men and Gender Equality – The Nordic Experience (Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers).

  • Inglehart, R. (2000) Globalization and Postmodern Values. The Washington Quarterly, 23(1), 215–228.

  • Johansson, T., Andreasson, P. (2017) Fatherhood in Transition. Masculinity, Identity and Everyday Life (London: Palgrave Macmillan).

  • Knijn, T., Selter, P. (2002) ‘Transformations of fatherhood: the Netherlands’, Making Men into Fathers. Men, Masculinities and the Social Politics of Fatherhood, ed. B. Hobson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp 168–187.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Koslowski, A. (2011) ‘Working fathers in Europe: earning and caring’, European Sociological Review, 27(2), 230–245. doi: 10.1093/esr/jcq004

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kramer, K. Z., Kelly, E. L., McCulloch, J. B. (2015), ‘Stay-at-home fathers. Definition and characteristics based on 34 years of CPS data’, Journal of Family Issues, 36(12), 1651–1673. doi: 10.1177/0192513X13502479

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Kuhar, R., Paternotte, D. (eds.) (2017) Anti-Gender Campaigns in Europe. Mobilizing against Equality (London: Rowman-Littlefield).

  • Lynch, K., Lyons, M. (2009) ‘Care-less citizenship? Public devaluation and private validation’, Affective Equality: Who Cares? Love, Care and Injustice, eds. K. Lynch, J. Baker, M. Lyons (London: Palgrave Macmillan), pp 78–92.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Machin, A. J. (2015), ‘Mind the gap: the expectation and reality of involved fatherhood’, Fathering, 13(1), 36–59.

  • McDonald, P. (2000) ‘Gender Equity in Theories of Fertility Transition’, Population and Development Review, 26(3), 427–439. doi: 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2000.00427.x

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Merla, L. (2008) ‘Determinants, costs, and meanings of Belgian stay-at-home fathers: an international comparison’, Fathering, 6(2), 113–132. doi: 10.3149/fth.0602.113

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Miani, C., Hoorens, S. (2014) Parents at Work: Men and Women Participating in the Labour Force (Brussels: RAND Europe).

  • Miller, T. (2011) Making Sense of Fatherhood: Caring, Gender and Work (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

  • Morgan, D. (2002) ‘Epilogue’, Making Men into Fathers. Men, Masculinities and the Social Politics of Fatherhood, ed. B. Hobson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp 273–286.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Neményi, M., Takács, J. (2016) ‘Main breadwinner women in Hungary and their work–family balance-related coping strategies’, Intersections. East European Journal of Society and Politics, 2(3), 97–117. doi: 10.17356/ieejsp.v2i3.170

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Palkovitz, R. (2002) Involved Fathering and Men’s Adult Development (London: Routledge).

  • Plantenga, J., Remery, C., Takács, J. (2012) ‘Public support to young families in the European Union’, Work, Family Policies and Transitions to Adulthood in Europe, ed. T. Knijn (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan), pp 180–201.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Plantin, L. (2007) ‘Different classes, different fathers?’, Community, Work & Family, 10(1), 93–110. doi: 10.1080/13668800601110835

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Pleck, J. H. (1993) ‘Are ‘family supportive’ employer policies relevant to men?’, Men, Work, and Family, ed. J. C. Hood (Newbury Park, CA: Sage), pp 217–237.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Russell, G. (1989) ‘Work/family patterns and couple relationships in shared caregiving families’, Social Behaviour, 4(4), 265–283.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Silverstein, L. B, Auberbach, C. F. (1999) ‘Deconstructing the essential father’, American Psychologist, 54(6), 397–407. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.54.6.397

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Švab, A., Humer, Ž. (2013) ‘‘I only have to ask him and he does it...’ Active fatherhood and (perceptions of) division of family labour in Slovenia’, Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 44(1), 57–78.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Takács, J. (2013) ‘Unattainable desires? Childbearing capabilities in early 21st century Hungary’, Childbearing, Women’s Employment and Work–Life Balance Policies in Contemporary Europe, eds. L. Sz. Oláh, E. Fratczak (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan), pp 179–206.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Takács, J. (2015) ‘Disciplining gender and (homo)sexuality in state socialist Hungary in the 1970s’, European Review of History: Revue Européenne d’Histoire’, 22(1), 161–175.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Wall, G., Arnold, S. (2007) ‘How involved is involved fathering? An exploration of the contemporary culture of fatherhood’, Gender & Society, 21(4), 508–527. doi: 10.1177/0891243207304973

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation

  • Williams, R. A. (2009) ‘Masculinities and fathering’, Community, Work & Family, 12(1), 57–73. doi: 10.1080/13668800802133784

  • Zdravomyslova, E., Temkina, A. (2005) ‘Gendered citizenship in Soviet and post-Soviet societies’, Nation and Gender in Contemporary Europe, eds. V. Tolz, S. Booth (Manchester: Manchester University Press), pp 96–113.

    • Search Google Scholar
    • Export Citation
Judit Takács Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

Search for other papers by Judit Takács in
Current site
Google Scholar Close

takacs.judit@tk.mta.hu

Content Metrics

May 2022 onwards Past Year Past 30 Days
Abstract Views 1793 1143 601
Full Text Views 170 3 0
PDF Downloads 111 1 0

Altmetrics

Dimensions

Cover Families, Relationships and Societies
Families, Relationships and Societies
An international journal of research and debate