Single Fathers and Employment Discrimination: Penalized or Protected?

Abstract

This research examines employment discrimination against custodial single fathers in the United States. Fatherhood is associated with breadwinning, and employers expect full work commitment. Yet, caregiving constrains breadwinning because family demands are time-consuming and labor-intensive. This raises the following questions: In what ways, if at all, do employers discriminate against single fathers with primary caregiving responsibility? How do custodial single fathers experience their roles as primary breadwinners and primary caregivers? My dissertation offers answers to these questions by considering how gender, breadwinning, and caregiving roles operate in employers’ hiring preferences and single fathers’ efforts to meet work and caregiving demands.