Politics and attitudes on fatherhood

Differences between Democrats, Republicans

Is fatherhood political? As we celebrate Father’s Day in this unlike-anything-wehave-ever-seen election year, Republicans and Democrats continue to grow further apart in terms of their views on candidates, policies and political events. And our research suggests that even being a dad isn’t immune from that trend.

Using data from a recent Pew Research Center survey of American families, we were able to explore in detail how family structure and attitudes shape and are shaped by contemporary politics. In a nationally representative sample, mothers and fathers were asked whether they identified with the Republican or Democratic party, as well as a series of questions about their roles as parents.

We uncovered some interesting results regarding mothers: For example, Republican moms are just as likely to be in the work force as their Democratic counterparts, but they feel less comfortable about it. Our most intriguing findings, though, had to do with fathers. Red and blue fathers are different from one another — and similar to one another — in some unexpected and provocative ways.

First, the similarities. The oft-repeated stereotypes about red states and blue states hold that liberals are more likely to start families later in life, once both parents have established their careers, while parents in conservative states have children at a younger age and have many more of them. But we found that Republican and Democratic fathers closely resemble one another in terms of the structure of their families. Republican and Democratic dads have the same number of children, an average of 2.4, and on average they start their families at the same age — 28. They are also equally likely to be employed. In other words, the demographic data tells a story of very similar fathers in the two parties.

Where Republican and Democratic dads differ, though, is in their perceptions of the appropriate role of fathers and how they assess their own performance.

Republican dads rate the job they are doing as parents very highly, significantly higher than Democratic fathers rate themselves. This is true even though Republican fathers report spending less time with their children and delegating more of the responsibility of child-rearing to their wives than Democratic fathers do.

Republican fathers also embrace a more authoritarian view of parenting than Democratic men: They are more likely to emphasize obedience and good manners in their children over curiosity and selfreliance.

Both Republican and Democratic dads