Identifying the Determinants of Effective Coparenting Among Dual-Earner Couples: A Qualitative Inquiry

Hsin-Yi Chang; Budi  Santoso; Sipho Mbeki

Authors

Hsin-Yi Chang Department of Cognitive Psychology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan Author https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4232-7154
Budi Santoso Department of Environmental Psychology, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia Corresponding Author https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2758-392X
Sipho Mbeki Department of Clinical Psychology, Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa Author https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3966-9716

Keywords:

Coparenting, dual-earner couples, shared parenting, work-family balance, qualitative research, Indonesia

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to identify and explain the determinants of effective coparenting among dual-earner couples in Indonesia.

Methods and Materials: This qualitative study employed conventional qualitative content analysis. Participants were 24 individuals representing 12 dual-earner heterosexual couples in Indonesia, recruited through purposive sampling with maximum variation in age, occupation, education, duration of marriage, number of children, and work arrangements. Eligibility required both spouses to be employed, legally married, co-residing, and actively involved in parenting at least one dependent child. Data were collected through separate semi-structured, in-depth interviews with each spouse. Interviews lasted approximately 50–75 minutes, were audio-recorded with consent, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed concurrently with data collection. Analysis involved repeated reading, identification of meaning units, open coding, constant comparison, categorization, abstraction, and development of overarching themes. MAXQDA was used for data management. Credibility, dependability, confirmability, and transferability were strengthened through maximum-variation sampling, reflexive memoing, audit trails, participant clarification, and secondary review of selected transcripts.

Findings: Analysis generated six interrelated determinants of effective coparenting: mutual commitment to shared parenting, constructive communication and coordinated decision-making, perceived fairness and flexible division of labor, emotional support and recognition of the partner, work-family boundary management, and family and sociocultural support context. Effective coparenting was characterized less by exact equality in parenting tasks than by shared responsibility, negotiated fairness, mutual reliability, adaptability, and acknowledgment of each partner’s contribution. Five broader patterns of coparenting functioning also emerged: highly coordinated, adaptive but strained, asymmetrical, reactive, and externally supported coparenting. Workplace flexibility, predictable schedules, and supportive extended-family involvement facilitated cooperation, whereas rigid gender expectations, unacknowledged task imbalance, reactive communication, and unpredictable work demands undermined the parental alliance.

Conclusion: Effective coparenting among dual-earner couples is a dynamic and multidimensional process shaped by the interaction of relational, occupational, and sociocultural determinants, with shared responsibility, flexible coordination, and mutual recognition forming its central foundation.

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