Involved Fathers and Intensive Parenting in Czechia: Norms and Fathers’ Contextualised Practices

Intensive parenting norms that emphasise high parental investment to optimise child development are increasingly prevalent in advanced economies. Although motherhood has been widely studied, fatherhood remains underexplored, especially in contexts like Czechia, where support for shared childcare between parents is limited. Using data from the Czech ISSP 2022 and qualitative interviews with Czech middle‐class fathers and mothers (2022–2024), this study examines how intensive parenting norms shape the views and practices of fathers’ involvement in childcare. The survey results show similar levels of support for intensive parenting norms among men and women, irrespective of expectations about paternal care. The interviews reveal three intensive parenting patterns: maternal‐specialised, stimulation‐oriented, and partially egalitarian. Although mothers bear the main emotional and logistical burden, fathers’ participation in childcare remains selective. The findings highlight how intensive parenting norms are enacted in gendered ways, shaped by persistently gendered cultural and institutional constraints.
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