Career Advice for Job Seekers
Today’s Dads Are More Than Just a Paycheck
Work, bring home a paycheck, and discipline when necessary.
For years that was the role of fathers. Dads were breadwinners who put in long hours so they could bring home the bacon, which mothers then cooked for breakfast the next morning. Usually dads were gone before sunrise and home around dinner, just in time to follow through on mom’s threats to the kids of “WAIT UNTIL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME!” Times were different then, with many dads from years ago never even changing diapers, so the notion of a full-time stay-at-home dad was completely foreign.
But the Don Drapers of the world have faded away as more women than men graduate from college, and the vast majority of those who lost jobs in the recent economic recession were men. Throw in the fact that modern day dads are actively striving for “shared parenting” and increased involvement with their kids, and you have a fundamental shift underway regarding work/life balance as it pertains to men.
The Wheels of Change Turn Slowly
But despite this change, many men are still struggling to find balance between work and home. More than that, they’re also struggling with long-held stereotypes of men and fathers in general. Whether it’s being hesitant to ask for paternity leave for fear of hurting their careers, or having difficulty coming to grips with being an at-home parent because they’d rather be working and providing, dads these days have a lot on their plate.
But which specific work/life issues are men struggling with today and how are they affected? We figured the best way to find out the answer was to ask them (and women as well), and more than 1,800 people responded. Here’s what they had to say.
Who Are These Guys?
When first glimpsing the demographics, it doesn’t appear much has changed. Of the men who responded to our survey, 81 percent are married and 85 percent are fathers. Eighty-one percent work full-time and 70 percent of men surveyed said they are the primary breadwinners in their family.
But in keeping with the statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau in 2011 — which reports the number of stay-at-home dads in America has risen to 154,000 — 3.2 percent of the men we surveyed said they are now the full-time, primary caregiver for their children. That number pales in comparison to the number of stay-at-home moms across the country, but it’s a testament to dad’s increasing role on the homefront. Continue reading . . .
Article by Aaron Gouveia and courtesy of Salary.com
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