‘I feel a lot more on the team, and I can score some points now’: remote-first work and paternal engagement in parenting and domestic tasks

Fathers’ use of remote work for caregiving has been limited by concerns about discrimination, career stagnation, reduced income, and social stigmatisation. Existing studies have focused on remote work as an opt-in alternative to office-based work, with limited empirical research on standardised remote work approaches. This study examines the impacts of the remote-first model, an approach to remote work emphasising autonomy and work/life integration, on paternal engagement with domestic tasks and caregiving. It contributes to existing knowledge by examining (1) how remote-first work practices impact fathers’ involvement with domestic tasks and caregiving and (2) how the experience of working remote-first impacts fathers’ relationships with their children and partners. Using data from qualitative interviews with 16 remote-first fathers, findings consistent with the needs exposure hypothesis indicate that remote-first work provides fathers with increased awareness, opportunity and motivation to increase engagement with caregiving and domestic tasks while maintaining workforce participation. Furthermore, the study finds that remote-first fathers report increasing both their physical and emotional labour, leading to more regular engagement with children and positive impacts on self-identity and relationships with children and partners. Theoretically speaking, the study provides a novel contribution to the needs exposure hypothesis in the context of standardised remote work.