Fathers on the ‘night shift’? Understanding caring fatherhood through parents’ interpretative repertoires of night-time care

This chapter provides a new perspective on caring fatherhood by analysing interpretative repertoires produced by Finnish fathers and mothers to enable or constrain fathers’ care during the intimate, ‘hidden hours’ between late evenings and early mornings. In addition, interpretative repertoires for sharing night-time care are also explored. Qualitative interviews with Finnish fathers (n = 8) and mothers (n = 23) of children under six years old collected in, 2022 were analysed as empirical data. As a result, barriers, enablers and shared childcare practices constructed on biological, individual/situational, work-related and institutional repertoires were identified. The study is part of the multidisciplinary research project ‘The parental night shift: gendered inequalities in night-time care’ (2022–2027) funded by the Kone Foundation.