Does working long hours make you a bad father? Men who do overtime are more likely to have 'delinquent and aggressive' sons
- - Study found that fathers who work more than 55 hours a week are more likely to have
badly behaved sons - - These hours did not affect daughters and a mother's working hours were not found to
impact their son's behaviour
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Fathers who work more than 55 hours a week are likely to have sons that exhibit delinquent behaviours, according to research from the Social Science Research Centre in Berlin
Boys whose fathers work very long hours are more likely to become tearaways, according to new research.
A study of more than 1,400 children found those whose fathers worked more than 55 hours a week were more delinquent and aggressive than their peers, yet the same phenomenon was not identified in daughters.
Further research now needs to be carried out to discover why this happens in males, and to look for ways to tackle it.
The study was run by the Social Science Research Centre in Berlin, but was based in Western Australia where one in five fathers work at least 55 hours week when their children were between five and eight.
Mothers' working hours did not seem to matter, although few Australian mothers worked long hours, according to the study, and no firm conclusions could be drawn from this comparison.
The culture of working long hours, which has crept into many jobs should be the next policy frontier, said the researchers.
In Germany, 15 per cent of fathers of children aged three and four worked 55 or more hours a week in 2011.
Dr Jianghong Li, of The Social Science Research Centre, Berlin, said: 'It is possible when fathers work very long hours, children are less well monitored after school, especially if mothers also work full time hours.
'There is some evidence pre-adolescent boys are less well monitored than girls when fathers have high work related demands, including long hours, and as a consequence have more conduct problems.'
The children's behaviour was monitored by the researchers when they were five, eight and ten using a recognised checklist.
The researchers claim the behaviours may be due to the fact when fathers work long hours, children are monitored less after school, especially if mothers also work full-time. However, they add that more research needs to be carried out into why it doesn't happen with daughters
WORKAHOLICS COULD BE MAKING THEMSELVES ILL
Workaholics have been warned they risk harming their physical and mental wellbeing by staying at their desk more than 50 hours a week.
The research, by doctoral student Sarah Asebedo at the College of Human Ecology's personal financial planning and conflict resolution program in Minnesota, found that so-called workaholics were more likely to get ill because of skipping meals.
They also found that working long hours was associated with a higher score in tests for depression.
Dr Li said: 'Although the average amount of time parents spend with their children has increased in recent years, the quantity and quality of parent-child time is still raised as a concern.
'Studies in the U.S and Australia point to a desire among parents to work fewer hours and spend more time with their children and a wish among children parents would come home from work less tired and stressed.
'The findings on fathers' long work hours are associated with higher levels of child behavioural problems is important, given the limited prior research specifically examining fathers' work hours.'
Policy has traditionally focused on enabling flexibility for mothers in balancing their work and family responsibilities.
Added Dr Li: 'The results of this study challenge public and policy concern that mothers' absence due to paid work may have a negative impact on children's development.
'This study provides evidence to support equal opportunities for mothers and fathers to share parenting and work responsibilities.
'Instead of focusing on negative effects of mothers' work hours, policy attention should be given to negative consequences of fathers' long work hours for children's emotional well being.
'Fathers should be given incentives not to work long hours but to have a greater share of parenting responsibilities.'
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