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Working fathers are willing to pick up the slack at home these days. Or at least they say they are, which is progress right? Oftentimes working mothers wind up on a lower-status career path after having a child. Now dads are opting to reel in their career ambitions for the sake of spending more time with their families. The result is a “daddy track” that is changing drastically fatherhood in the U.S.
According to a survey of 9,699 workers across eight countries conducted by Harris Interactive and consulting firm EY, American working fathers were more apt than women to make career sacrifices for a better work-life balance. Of the respondents, about 1,200 respondents were from the U.S.
The numbers are interesting: 67 percent of U.S. men, versus 57 percent of women, have changed jobs or would do so to meet the needs of their families; 57 percent of men have actually passed up promotions or would, compared to 49 percent of women; 36 percent of men would accept a pay cut, as opposed to 33 percent of women; and 26 percent of men would move to another country with better parental leave benefits. Only 18 percent of women consider this.
“This is another example of how traditional gender roles are shifting, with men and women taking on more equitable roles,” Karyn Twaronite, EY’s diversity and inclusiveness officer, told The Huffington Post.
Most family households have two working parents. In fact, in 2014, 60 percent of all married couples with children were dual-earner parents, according to data from the Labor Department. EY’s survey found that 78 percent of millennials are part of a dual-career couple. Due to this trend, fathers are finding they have to take on more household responsibilities. For example, in 2013 fathers spent about 16 hours a week on child care and housework. In 1965, it was only about seven hours, according to the Council of Economic Advisers, cited in the 2015 Economic Report of the President.
And like working mothers, fathers are struggling to create a better work-life balance. In that report, 60 percent of fathers in dual-earner couples felt conflicted between work and family. This is actually higher than women, of whom only 47 percent reported being conflicted.
Besides the work-life balance, there are many challenges working parents face today. “One-third of the workers in EY’s survey said it has gotten more difficult to manage work and family over the past five years, with about half saying that stagnant wages are to blame,” reports HuffPo.
