My copy of Time Magazine is due in the mail today and I’m wondering if I should hide it, lest my husband frame the cover and place it prominently in our home! But I am very glad to read Time’s new report on ways men are taking responsibility at home (for both the home and the children). Since so many mothers are now working, it benefits the entire family when Dad comes home and tunes right in. Even better – men are now spending three times more time with their children, compared to the fathers in the 1960s.
It has long been thought that women were the ones struggling with the work/home dilemma and stress. but Time reports show that sixty percent of men struggle with this too, and women actually seem to stress less (a little under fifty percent of women are feeling the strain). Men feel the guilt too and many are rushing home to spend time with their families and help out around the house.
While women with small children are still spending more time with them and doing chores, their partners are spending more time at the workplace – a rather equal disbursement of time since the home and children need plenty of attention, but one of the partners has to be the financial provider.
When women entered the workforce in large numbers during the 1970s, they had good reason to complain that they were almost entirely responsible for the house and kids when they got home from work. Sometimes referred to as the “second shift”, women were expected to maintain the home and childcare after a full day of work outside the home.
But those days are long gone. While many women may raise an eyebrow at Time’s report (as their husbands are glued to their video games), experts warn women to stop nagging or criticizing their partners and focus on encouraging the huge progress men have made; accept the fact that most of us are pretty much on an equal standing when it comes to the work, home, and life balance.
More on the Time report can be read here: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/21/time-cover-story-why-men-and-women-should-end-the-chore-wars/
Tell Us
Are you and your partner on an equal footing when it comes to a home/work balance? Why or why not?
Edited by Shannon Koehle