Les temps recomposés des beaux-parents : du temps avec au temps pour les beaux-enfants

In France, the conventional statistical approach focuses on the criterion of primary residence to define the status of step-parent. In doing so, it overlooks the situation of many women who, despite not having their partner’s children in their home full-time, are nonetheless involved in their care. Drawing on data from various surveys, this article explores gender differences in this area by analysing the various profiles of stepfathers and stepmothers based on time spent in the same house as their stepchildren, as well as looking at what happens during this shared time (the division of parental tasks). We show that the time children spend in the home does not correspond to any particular social profile in stepfathers (except for alternating residence), while the social profile of stepmothers varies greatly according to the time they spend with their stepchildren. When stepchildren are daily present, stepmothers take on more of the necessary parenting tasks, while stepfathers are less involved in these. The presence of children therefore does not have the same impact for stepfathers as for stepmothers, revealing the social and gender inequalities within stepfamilies.