Peer-reviewed article
“His mind will work better with both of us”: a qualitative study on fathers’ roles and coparenting of young children in rural Pakistan
Joshua Jeong, Saima Siyal, Günther Fink, Dana Charles McCoy, Aisha Khizar Yousafzai ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This qualitative study explores how fathers in rural Pakistan understand their roles in caring for young children and how they work together with mothers. The researchers interviewed 33 fathers and their 32 partners, plus held separate discussion groups, to understand parenting practices and divisions of labor. The study found that fathers have both direct caregiving roles and indirect support roles through coparenting, shaped by cultural and family contexts. The authors recommend that future parenting programs should recognize fathers' contributions alongside mothers' roles to better support early child development.
Key points
- Parents described distinct but also overlapping divisions of roles between fathers and mothers in early childhood caregiving
- Fathers contribute both through direct engagement with young children and indirect support to their partners
- Gendered divisions in parenting roles are embedded within individual, family, and wider sociocultural contexts
- A family-centered approach to fatherhood recognizes both fathers' direct and indirect contributions to nurturing care
- Parenting interventions should reflect the lived experiences of both fathers and mothers as parents and partners
Limitations
This is a qualitative study based on interviews and focus groups, so findings describe experiences and perceptions rather than measuring outcomes or behaviors directly. The study does not evaluate the impact of any intervention on child health or development.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Parents are the primary providers of nurturing care for young children's healthy early development. However, the literature on parenting in early childhood, especially in low- and middle-income countries, has primarily focused on mothers. In this study, we investigate how parents make meaning of fathers' parenting roles with regards to their young children's early health and development in rural Pakistan. METHODS: Data were collected between January and March 2017 through in-depth interviews with fathers (N = 33) and their partners (N = 32); as well as separate focus group discussions with fathers (N = 7) and mothers (N = 7). Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Parents described a distinct division of roles between fathers and mothers; and also several shared caregiving roles of fathers and mothers. Specifically, parents highlighted aspects of fathers' coparenting and several common ways by which fathers supported their partners. We found that these gendered divisions in parenting roles were strongly embedded within a complex network of interacting factors across the individual, family, and sociocultural contexts of the study community. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a more family-centered conceptualization of fatherhood during early childhood that encompasses both fathers' direct engagement with their young children and their indirect contributions through coparenting, while recognizing a variety of contextual systems that shape paternal parenting. Future parenting interventions that reflect the lived experiences of both fathers and mothers as parents and partners may further enhance the nurturing care environments that are critical for promoting healthy early child development.