In Australia, as in many other developed market economies, fatherhood ideals are shifting with some fathers wanting to be involved in caring for their children. Access to flexible work, which enables men to make choices about ‘when’, ‘where’ and for ‘how long’ they engage in work-related tasks, is key to supporting this shift. But not all work can or will provide this flexibility.
While scholars contest the flexibility of gig work due to the use of algorithmic management, offers to incentivize worker behaviour, and the fact that the availability of the work is subject to customer demand, on-demand gig work platforms like to portray themselves as enablers of flexible work. For example, one of the largest platforms, Uber, markets itself as offering a flexible alternative for workers seeking greater control over their schedules.
Our study examines whether gig work, specifically ride-share work, alleviates the ‘flexibility’ challenge working men and their families face, with Uber drivers as the case study. We explore the motivations of 35 fathers with dependent children who work in the gig economy and examine if care considerations factored into their decision to do so. We further examined whether ride-share work enables these fathers to meet their unpaid work and care demands.
Why fathers turn to gig work
We found that fathers turned to ride-share work for two key reasons. First, many sought flexibility around earning (i.e., a demand for income), where some fathers drive Uber full-time, while others drive for supplemental income. Second, and most interestingly for our study, was that some fathers drove Uber for working-time flexibility reasons. Several participants used the work’s relatively constrained flexibility to meet their caring and child-minding responsibilities.
Based on the fathers we spoke with, we created a typology with four categories. In this paper we present the results for three of these categories, ‘Carer’ Dads, ‘Be There’ Dads, and ‘Provider’ Dads. The fourth category, ‘Income-first’ Dads, was not represented in the study.
Working-time flexibility: ‘Carer’ Dads and ‘Be There’ Dads
The ‘Carer’ Dads and ‘Be There’ Dads said that driving Uber gave them the flexibility to care for their children because they could control where, when, and how long they worked. Some of them turned to Uber for this reason, while others realized this benefit after turning to Uber to earn income on a full- or part-time basis.
The ‘Carer’ dads were partnered and organized their work around their children’s needs. Some used the flexibility to care for their children full-time, while others shared care responsibilities with their partners. One father explained: “I turned to Uber because it was really the only job that was guaranteed that the flexibility would be there. I would be able to take care of my son when necessary.”
The ‘Be There’ Dads were divorced or separated with caring responsibilities. They specifically turned to Uber for the flexibility to decide when, where, and for how long they work so that they could be fully available to care for their children during weeks of custody. A common sentiment across the ‘Be There’ Dads was that Uber was the only form of work that provided such flexibility. For instance, some fathers used the flexibility to work extended hours during non-custody days, and stayed home when they had their children: “Well, when I don’t have him, I don’t sleep <laughing>, it’s just work, work, work. … I try to maximise what I can when I don’t have my son.”
Income-Earning Flexibility: ‘Provider’ Dads
For fathers in the ‘income-earning flexibility’ category, their primary motivation for driving Uber was additional income. Some fathers drove Uber full-time, while others supplemented income from another job or business. Hence, their engagement in the work mostly reduced, rather than enhanced, their ability to contribute to care work, leaving them with less time or no time to care for their children.
‘Provider’ dads, who engaged in the work for supplemental income, explained how their primary source of income was insufficient to meet their cost-of-living pressures or desired lifestyle. These fathers often worked long hours, evenings, and weekends when earning potential is higher, thereby intensifying their breadwinner role. In terms of caring for their children, some contributed while others struggled to share the load due to exhaustion or time constraints. For example, one father shared: “You’re tired. You’ve driven 12 hours… My wife does most of the child-like stuff.”
Is the gig economy the answer?
This study considered how flexible work, care and gender roles intersect in the modern labour market, finding that experiences of fathers in the gig economy are context-specific. For some fathers, the flexibility of gig work is a tool to spend time with and care for their children, potentially shifting gender roles in their households. For others, it serves as a means to earn full or supplemental income, albeit in a way that could intensify their workload and breadwinner roles.
Key to these findings is that individual circumstances matter, and while objectively platforms exercise control over workers through offering incentives to drive at specific times and for specific durations, algorithmic management, and having to drive at high demand times to earn sufficient income, subjectively the fathers in this study report experiencing the work as flexible, whether from a working-time flexibility or income-earning flexibility perspective.
Read More
Gulesserian, L., Veen, A. and Baird, M. (2025), ‘Gig’ Work and Fatherhood: A Typology of Ride-Share Fathers in Australia. New Technology, Work and Employment, 40: 564-574. https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12333
About the Authors
Lisa Gulesserian is an award-winning educator with over 15 years of experience in instructional design, technology-enhanced teaching, and collaborative projects who helps academic institutions improve their learning and teaching environments by developing innovative and relevant curricula, assignments, and lessons plans that make the best use of educational technology tools.
Alex Veen is an Associate Professor in the School of Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney Business School. He is an employment relations scholar and an expert on new technology and work. His research has significantly shaped global academic and policy debates on gig work, algorithmic management, and the regulation of work‑related AI. He is an inaugural University of Sydney Business School Emerging Scholar Research Fellow (2025–2026).
Marian Baird is Professor of Gender and Employment Relations and Co-Director of the Sydney Employment Relations Research Group in the University of Sydney Business School. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia. Marian is a leading researcher in the fields of industrial relations, women, work and care. Her research focuses on policy responses at all levels, including government, business and unions.