Samenvatting

Fathers may fundamentally change their behaviour, depending on the context. In this article, this aspect was investigated on the basis of three exceptional practices. The 'standard practice' has been defined as a living unit consisting of a man, a woman and one or more children, with the man working outside the home at regular times (generally from 9-17 hours) and the woman being (largely) responsible for household and care tasks. We speak of an exceptional practice if the man works non-regular hours, or has an unusual working pattern, or is part of a special type of household. The study involved around thirty such households, subdivided into the households of homosexual fathers, shiftworkers and teleworkers. The main conclusion of the article into exceptional practices is that men's views and preferences as regards the distribution of tasks between men and women are closely linked to the context in which they perform these tasks. In households characterised by a more balanced distribution of tasks, the alleged skills and preferences of men and the tradition in which they grew up have become largely or totally irrelevant. It turns out that men's opinions may change in situations where men are forced to carry out certain tasks because of a change in circumstances (different working hours, working patterns or alternative lifestyles). In that case, even supposedly poor skills are suddenly of little or no importance. Being 'alone' at home with the children appears to be an important stimulus to actually perform care tasks.