Trying to balance full time work with child care isn't an easy task for anyone; while women are expected to shoulder the burden of caregiving responsibilities at the expense of career opportunities, men face societal pressures to pursue increased workloads while neglecting homelife. According to a State of the World's Fathers report most dads want to be more involved in caregiving and their familial relationships, but run into hurdles with social norms and lack of policy in the workplace to support them. Today, only half of the world's countries offer any paternity leave, and most of those policies allow less than two weeks and usually mere days. The United States offers none.
Due to societal norms surrounding heteronormative relationships, men tend to avoid prioritizing domestic work for fear of seeming uncommitted to their careers. In 2019, a UK based study found that 92% of fathers with dependent children were employed, with 3 in 4 of those dads reporting feeling stressed trying to juggle home and work life (TheGuardian.com). With the start of the pandemic, fathers were spending more time than ever with their children. As lockdowns have ended and these same fathers have returned to their in-person offices, a desire for more flexible schedules or opportunities for remote work has arisen. Shifting away from regular work hours would allow fathers to take responsibility for household tasks and child rearing they previously couldn't. Having this ability to help with domestic labor also gives dads more time to connect with their children or spouses leading to a more fulfilling home life.
In order for dads to be allowed the opportunity to take on more physical or emotional labor in the household, domestic labor and child-support need to be uncoupled from expectations of women. These established gender roles are so ingrained that during pandemic school-shutdowns, a UK study showed men with children had a 75% chance of being denied furlough leave (workingdads.co.uk). Furthermore, according to ongoing doctoral research at the University of Liverpool, men entering into new heterosexual relationships tend to hide the relationship from employers to avoid losing flexible work opportunities (Schaefer et all 2021). Gendered approaches to leave policies in the workplace simultaneously enforce expectations of childcare and housework on women, while restricting opportunities for men to take a role in domestic labor.
Equality at home often starts with equality at work. Due to conventional gender roles enforced in the workplace, even in a dual income household, the responsibility of unpaid domestic labor often falls on the woman in a heterosexual relationship. These tasks place increased stressors on women and take up mental capacity that can no longer be devoted to work. This can lead to losing out on promotions or raises when domestic caretakers are perceived as distracted or not as committed as their male counterparts. By offering better programs for fathers to be able to help with childcare and other household chores men would see the benefits of being more connected with their families and home life while women could see benefits in their professional lives not having to devote as much time as the sole provider of childcare.
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