The Families and Work Institute’s most recent National Study of the Changing Workforce finds that men now experience more work/family conflict than women. Although gender roles have changed in the light of women’s increasing contributions to the family economics, men are still often expected to be the primary financial providers for their families.
The study found that men who have children at home work longer hours than men who don’t. At the same time, dads today are frequently expected to be more involved at home than their fathers were and to spend more time with their children, taking care of them and being involved with them. The study points out that men are experiencing the “do it all” expectation that women encountered when they began to enter the workforce in large numbers.
The ideal man
Fathers today are expected to be financially successful and also involved in their family.
The demands to achieve at work, coupled with the strain on the economy over the last several years, the pressure to have your kids involved in a variety of activities and the expectations (and desire) of fathers to be involved in raising their children make fatherhood pressure-packed and can lead to work/family conflict.