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Objective: This study explores the gender and educational differences in the time spent on childcare in the Czech Republic. In particular, we ask how gender and educational gradients in parenting time intersect and whether they vary by the child's age. We consider the time parents spend in basic, interactive and focused childcare care as a way to address the intensive parenting model.
Background: Prior research has documented an increase in parental time investment in childcare associated with changes in gender roles and the spread of norms of intensive parenting. However, it remains unclear whether educational and gender differences in parenting time are converging because of these changes and how they vary by the child's age.
Method: Using time-use data from the Czech Household Study Panel Study—a nationally representative sample from the Czech Republic (2015)—we applied mixed regression models to analyse time spent on three types of childcare activities.
Results: The results indicate that highly educated parents allocate more time to basic and focused care, reflecting a commitment to intensive child-centred parenting. In addition, higher-educated fathers of preschoolers engage more in interactive care. Although gender disparities persist among higher-educated parents, the gap narrows for parents with children older than three years.
Conclusion: The findings underscore the importance of analysing parenting time across different activities and child ages to understand family dynamics and child opportunities.

Objective: We examine the measurement invariance (MI) of intensive parenting norms across three European countries as well as across gender, education, and parental status. Background: The social norms of intensive parenting have become increasingly dominant in recent decades. However, there is no measurement model of intensive parenting norms in large-scale social surveys and it is unknown whether these norms convey the same meanings across different social and cultural contexts. Method: This study draws on data from the European Social Survey Cross-national Online Survey panel (2017) administered in Estonia, Slovenia, and Great Britain. We conducted a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and alignment optimization to assess the exact and approximate MI of intensive parenting norms across three countries and social contexts. Results: Due to a poor fit of the previously suggested four-factor model of intensive parenting norms, a revised two-factor model with stimulation and child-centred dimensions - excluding items that measure expert guidance and parental responsibility - was proposed. The two-factor model attained scalar invariance between educational groups and between parents of children aged under 12 years and others; however, only metric invariance was achieved among countries, gender, and parental status. The alignment optimization results suggest that the reduced scale is approximately invariant across all examined groups. Conclusion: This study highlights that the MI of parenting norms should not just be assumed but tested. This study provides insights into the conceptualisation of intensive parenting norms and recommendations for future research and development on measurement.

This mixed‐methods article focuses on childlessness and barriers to parenthood among non‐heterosexual men in Czechia. On the quantitative sample of 419 men (165 gays, 125 bisexuals, and 129 heterosexuals with same‐sex romantic/sexual attraction), recruited on a representative online panel, we map the parenting desires, intentions, and perceived barriers to parenthood. Our analysis identifies a substantial group of gay men without parenting desires and intentions compared to heterosexuals and bisexuals, and the lack of legal recognition of same‐sex families as a crucial barrier to gay parenthood. The qualitative enquiry, based on semi‐structured interviews with 23 self‐identified gay men aged 25 to 47 years, explores how they reflect on (not) becoming parents and contextualises those reflections. The deployed concept of "parental consciousness" captures the variety of considered pathways to gay parenthood and proves itself useful in understanding the low parenting desires and a generational shift among Czech gay men. We argue that men able to come out in their early adulthood in the post‐socialist context tend to have more diversified perspectives on possible pathways to parenthood. Among gaymen without children, we identified three distinct perceptions of the state: given childlessness, chosen childfree life, and a life stage/indecision. The informants pursuing parenthood have seen identity‐specific barriers to parenthood as crucial, which is discussed in the context of state selective regulations of the relational lives of persons with non‐normative identities. Although Czech gay men's parental consciousness has increased, legal conditions remain crucial for increasing their real‐life options.