How Child and Partnership Characteristics Influence Paternal Involvement

Coming from a family system theoretical perspective we asked to what extent selected child characteristics (age and gender of the child, position in the sibling order, biological/non-biological child, child health status) influence paternal involvement. Additionally, spillover effects in the mother’s commitment and the father’s partnership satisfaction were of interest. Cross-sectional survey data from the “Growing up in Germany” survey from 2019 were used, containing information on n = 1,404 fathers and their partners and n = 2,664 children (aged 3 to 17). In hybrid multilevel models, we distinguished between- and within-level effects. The results confirm discriminatory behaviors for the children in a family. While mothers were very strongly committed to younger children regardless of gender, fathers focused their commitment preferentially on their biological children and their sons. However, their commitment to the respective child correlated positively with the commitment of their partner as well as the perceived partnership satisfaction.