Stop Blaming Dads For Not Doing Enough Childcare
November 23, 2015
A new Pew Research Center report about dual-breadwinner households has been the talk of working parents in recent weeks. The paper, which showed that working moms and dads are stressed and frantically busy, focused largely on how parents handle the division of labor….Unfortunately, much of the press coverage of the Pew study described this dynamic as a “men versus women” problem. To me, that misses the real issue: how parents are pawns in a system that puts unnecessary stress on American families. Even worse, it obscures the big question: In a world where the most highly rewarded workers are the ones who get to the office first and leave last, should we really have expected families to change? Too many face a win-lose decision: Succeed at work or spend time actively engaged in the care of children and aging loved ones.