Interview GUIDE for Fathers on Leave Alone

Interview GUIDE for Fathers on leave alone

Family profile

I’ll begin by asking you a couple of simple questionsabout yourself and your family

Interviewee and family profile

Name (first name/ or pseudonym if interviewee prefers)
AGE How old are you? And your wife/partner?
PARTNERSHIP How long have you been married/cohabiting(in years)?
CHILDREN How many children do you have? Sex and age of each child.
MARRIAGE Is this your first partnership/marriage?

(If not, how many times have you been married/cohabiting? When did your previous partnership end (in years)? Do you have any children from a previous conjugality? How old are they?)

And your wife/partner, has she have been married/cohabiting before?

(If yes, how many times have she been married/cohabiting? When did her previous partnership end (in years)? Does she have any children from a previous conjugality? How old are they?)

PLACE of residence/HOUSEHOLD Where do youlive? Besides your wife and child(ren) does anyone else live with you?

(if yes, ask about age, kinship tie, level of education and profession)

EDUCATION What is the highest level of education you completed? And your wife?
OCCUPATION What is your profession? Where do you work (describe firm/sector) and what do you do (get a detailed description of work activities, responsibilities, status and contractual conditions)?
WORKING HOURS How many hours do you usually work? Do you have to work extra hours or weekends? How often? How many hours do you usually work per week?
And yourWIFE/partner, what is her profession? Where does she work (type of firm/sector) and what does she (get a detailed description of her work activities, responsibilities, status and contractual conditions)?
What is her work schedule? Does she work extra hours or weekends? How often? How many hours does she work per week?

Let’s talk about: THE LEAVE you took after the birth of your children

How leave was taken (youngest child)

Can you please describe the leave you took after your youngest child was born?
How many days/wksdid you take and when (straight after birth during first weeks, after that)? Full-time or part-time?
And your wife/partner?
How many paid days, and paid by whom?
Did you take other non paid days or holidays?
In total, how many days/wks/mths (both paid and unpaid) did you stay at home while your partner was on leave?
And ALONE, by yourself?

If more than one child: how was leave taken when previous children were born
When your other child(dren) was born did you also take paternity/parental leave? How many days did you take and when (straight after birth, after that) and in what form?
And your wife/partner?
How many paid days, and paid by whom?
Did you take other non paid days or holidays?
In total how many days/wks/mths (paid or unpaid) did you stay at home while your partner was on leave?
And ALONE, by yourself?

(going back to youngest child) THE DECISION to take leave and the negotiation of leave
WHY did you decide to take leave in this way (main reasons/motives)? In particular, why did you consider taking leave ALONE, after your wife returned to work?
DISCUSSING this with your wife/partner: which of you suggested you might share the leave and that you might stay home alone (or did you both assume it would be so)? Did you discuss different scenarios? How did your wife/partner feel about it/her opinion? At the time what kind of aspects weighedmost regarding the decision to share the leave between the two of you? And the amount of leave you should apply for? How did you decide in the end?
DISCUSSING/NEGOTIATING at your workplace. At what point and with whom did you talk at your work place to arrange it? Did they discuss different scenarios with you? Was it easy or difficult to negotiate?Did you feel any kind of pressure for not taking the leave?
INFORMATION How did you know about your leave rights?Where did you get the information?
APPLYING FOR LEAVE When exactly and where did you go to request the leave?Where there any difficulties?

Reactions and comments about taking leave alone

WIFE’S REACTION Was your wife concerned/worried that you were going to stay home alone with your child?
BOSS What is your boss’s opinion on men taking paternity/parental leave? How did he/she and your superiors react when you informed them that you were going to take leave in this way?
COWORKERS And your coworkers, how did they react? What did they say about it? Had any of them taken leave ALONE before you? Do you think you had any influence on how they took leave?
And yourFRIENDS,were they surprised? did they support or criticize your choice? Do you think you had any influence on how they took leave?
And your CLOSE FAMILY members (siblings, parents, parents-in-law …), how did they react?
Have their opinions about men taking parental leave changed over time?
How did you feel about these reactions and comments?

Talking about: yourexperience of leave

Fatheringand mothering during the first days/wks after birth (youngest child)

EXPERIENCE OF A NEW-BORN INFANT Could you describe this experience. How was the baby? How were the first days at home with the baby?Was your wife breastfeeding? The days and the nights?
How did you and your wife HANDLE CARING? Who did what and when? (watch over, comforting, bathing, dressing, changing nappies, putting to bed, getting up at night, going to the doctor …)
And how did you and your wife negotiate the caring? Did she tell you what needed to be done or ask for your help? Did you take turns, do it together or divide the chores?
Had you hadany experience with babies before? And your partner?
What were the most difficult tasks for you? And the most pleasant?
And what about house chores? Who did what and when? (cooking, cleaning, laundry, shopping …)
And how did you and your wife negotiate it?Did she tell you what needed to be done or ask for your help? Did you take turns, do it together or divide the chores?
Were then any disagreements between you regarding childcare or housework?
Did you get any help? (housekeeper, parents, in-laws …)

Being a dadon leave ALONE

How was the month/period you spent on your own: can you remember the FIRST DAY(S) on your OWN ALONE? What did you feel, how did it go? Was there anything special about it?
Please describe a DAY in your life at that time (get a detailed description: waking up, at what time did wife/partner leave for work, caring for baby in the morning, making lunch, staying at home or going out, etc.)?Ask about: good things/bad things, main difficulties, negative/positive feelings over the day…
What was the most positive thing for you in that month/period? And the most difficult one?
COMPARING LEAVE ALONE – LEAVE TOGETHER, with mother. If you compare the experience of caring for the baby alone with the experience of fathering when both of you were at home together, was it a different experience?
SUPPORT FROM WIFE What was your wife’s timetable at that time? Did she come home at all/help you during the day? Did she ring you or did you ring her?
SUPPORT Did you haveanysupport from third persons (housekeeper/daily, your parents, your in laws…)?
WORKING Did you work at all during the leave? Go in to work? Work at home? Take some time to catch up on some work ?
TIME for other activities. Did you have time for leisure activities? To do some things you like doing, such as sport, reading, surfing on the net…?
LEARNING Do you think you learnt anything new while you were home ALONE? What exactly? in terms of taking care of your baby?of household tasks?of managing on your own? of learning to deal with stress? Did you feel lonely or isolated?
BEING WITH BABY Describe your personal feelings and emotions about being with your infant during this time. Can you remember any special or memorable times you had together?
RELATIONSHIP/BOND WITH BABY Do you think that the leave alone gave you the opportunity to develop a different relationship with the baby?If yes, in what way? Compared to your other children?
If you look back today, what are for you the main ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES of fathers being ALONE with the baby?

Impact of leave take up on different domains of life
CAREER/JOB Do you think that taking up leave has had any impact on your career/job? And on your relationship with your co-workers? Did you suffer any kind of retaliation when you went back to work?

CONJUGAL RELATIONSHIP Did the fact that you took leave ALONE have any impact on your conjugal relationship?
PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP And on your relationship with your child today?
DIVISION of CARE AND HOUSEWORK Did it have any impact on the way you and your wife divide housework and childcare?
Do you think it CHANGED YOU as a man, a spouseor a father? Why?

Talking about: Family-work life balance

Going back to work and organizing childcare after leave

How was going back to work after the leave?

Was it difficult or good togo back to work? Did you miss being with your baby? While working,were you worried about him? Or was going back to work a relief after being at home for so long?
What daycare arrangements did you and your wife choose and why?(day care centre, nanny, grandparents, shift parenting …)
How did your child react?
Did you or your wife take the two-hour work reduction during the first year after the birth of the child?
How did you balance family/work life back then and now? Have you or your wife changed work schedules?

Balancing work and family life today

A typical work day

Can you describe a typical day routine,from morning to evening, during the work week?

At what time do you and your wife get up and go off to work? Who wakes up your child(ren) and prepares him/her fordaycare?
And then, do you eat breakfast together? Who cooks it?
Who takes and fetches your child(dren) to and from crèche/other caregiver/school?
At what time do you arrive home? And your wife/partner?
And then, what happens when you arrive home?Who does what? ( cook dinner and wash the dishes, bath and feed the children, play with them, put to bed, other household chores …)
EQUALITY IN CHILDCARE AND HOUSEHOLD TASKS All in all, would you say that these tasks are divided equally between you and your partner or not....?

A typical weekend day

Can you briefly describe your usual routine during the weekend?

At what time do you and your wife get up? And your child? And then how does your day go? (probe for childcare, housework, leisure activities, father-child time)

Family/work availability

Does your job affect your availability for your family? And for childcare and housework? Why?
And your wife’s job? Does it affect her availability for childcare or housework? Why?
Do you feel your family life interferes with your job?
How do you feel about your job/career? (probe for how much they like it, how involved they are, and how successful they feel)And your wife?
Didbecoming a fatherchange your relation to paid work?
Whose job/career has priority in your family? Can you give me an example of how this is expressed?

Talking about: Being a father (and a man) =tapping the social construction of parental and gender identity

Parental project – having children

Do you remember when you thought for the first time that you would like to be a father? Was it a project that began in you or in your couple?

How many children did you want to have? Boys or girls?
And now, would you like to have more children? And your wife/partner?

Becoming a father

Do you think being a parent has changed you as a person? How?

How would you DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A FATHER? Do you think that you are different from other fathers you know? Why?
When you think about being a GOOD FATHER, what is it for you to be a good father? And a GOOD MOTHER?
Do you think that your spouse has any influence on the father you are? And your mother and father? Or someone else?

Gender differences: Being a Man or a Woman

Do you think that there are DIFFERENCES between men and women: that they have different or specific skills, abilities, capacities...?
Regarding HOUSEWORK, do you think it makes much of a difference whether you are a man or a woman?
Regarding CHILDCARE, in particular babies, do you think it makes much of a difference whether you are a man or a woman?
How EQUAL in your opinion are men and women in general in our society? And in family life? In your opinion how important is gender equality in work and family life?
How EQUAL would you say you and your wife/partner are in work and family life?

Looking back to your family and childhood and what fathering was about

Do you think that you are a different kind of father from what your father was?Why? (Was he available, involved, caring, absent, authoritarian ….?)
Did your parents share childcare and housework?
Did you learn to do housework or childcare during your youth? Can you tell me about it?
What did your father do for a living? And your mother?
What is the highest level of educationthey have completed?
And your wife’s parents, what do they do for a living?
What is the highest level of educationthey have completed?

Opinion on current leave policy and policies to support families in this country

The ideal leave scheme

What is your opinion on the current parental leave scheme? (please explain the leave scheme and ask for opinion on payment, duration, time for the mother, time for the father, benefits for the child, impact on career/job)
For you what would be the IDEAL LEAVE SCHEME? Ideally, how many months of well-paid leave should be available for parents (either one) to care for a newborn baby at home (one year, two or three years, less than one year, flexibility…) Why? What factors should be taken into consideration?
Do you think that “PATERNITY LEAVE” (20 calendar days) is important? Why? And what is your opinion on it being compulsory (10 days)?
And what is your opinion on the DADDY “BONUS month”? Is it important for fathers to be alone with the baby after the mother goes back to work or should it be family time as in “paternity” leave?
SHARING LEAVE. Besides the compulsory period for the mother after birth, how should the rest of the time be divided between mother and father? Why?
Opinion on CHILDCARE BELOW AGE THREE. Ideally, what is the best childcare solution at the end of leave? And below age three? And between age three and age six? What is your opinion on putting children in crèches at six months? Has your opinion changed over time?
From the point of view of the EMPLOYER what do you think are the main advantages and disadvantages of the current leave scheme?

Opinion on policies to support families

Opinion on current STATE SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES. The state supports families with young children through family allowances, tax deductions, leaves, public subsidizing of crèches and schools. What is your opinion on the current level and types of support?
What should be changed or improved? What should be, from your point of view, the priorities?
Any special measures for fathers in particular?

A few last questions about your income and background

INCOME Thinking of both your salaries, what is your monthly net income, after tax? What is your monthly net income? And your partner’s?
HOUSING Do you live in a rented or purchased house/flat?
RELIGION Are you a religious person? What religion do you belong to? And your wife?
POLITICAL STANDING Do you belong or sympathize with any political party? Which one? And your wife?