I wrote this article for the Sept. issue of the Fatherhood Today newsletter. Think about if you are partering with your spouse to help create balance in your life.
How Dads Help Moms Balance Work and Family
The September 3, 2007 issue of US News and World Report ran a lead article entitled, “The New Mommy Track.” The most interesting aspect of this article was the observation that the help and support of her husband is instrumental in determining how successful a working mother will be in balancing work and family.
National Fatherhood Initiative has been saying this for years. Below are just a few
simple ways how dads help moms balance work and family.
- Take Advantage of Family-Friendly Programs: More and more companies are becoming
keenly aware that dads want and need more time at home. However, while many
companies provide work-family solutions for both men and women, the challenge is to get
men as involved as women in the programs being offered. A survey released in June
2004 by Catalyst, a New York based research and advisory group that focuses on women's issues, found that more women than men (44% versus 36%) take advantage of flexible work schedules. The survey also found that women are more likely than men to telecommute, take leave or a sabbatical, or change their work schedules informally. One step a dad can take to help the mother of his children is to decide to be involved in the work/family programs that his company provides that will benefit his entire family. - Learn Parenting Skills: If a father is committed to help his wife succeed in balancing work and family, then he must be committed to learn the basics of parenting. Additionally, kids benefit from having involved dads. On average, children of involved fathers perform better on almost every measure of physical, social, and cognitive development compared to children of uninvolved fathers. Dads need to learn the basic skills on how to be
involved, responsible, and committed fathers who provide, nurture, and guide their children. - Help Out Around the House: For moms to be more successful in the marketplace, men will need to help take care of more responsibilities in the home. A recent article in the New York Times entitled, “Wedded to Work, and in Dire Need of a Wife,” pointed out that the one thing that most working mothers want today is a “wife” - someone to help manage the kids and the housework. The article communicates that many working mothers simply cannot advance in their careers because of their responsibilities at home. According to 2006 survey data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one in five men engage in some kind of housework on an average day, while more than half of women do. If fathers begin to take up a full share of the responsibilities at home, the burden on working moms will be alleviated.
- Reset Expectations: Both moms and dads are pulled in many directions. Today, we are faced with what is called the “New Business Reality.” The new business reality expects employees and companies to do more, do it better and quicker, but with fewer resources. One new way to do business is by realigning expectations at home through a work-family balance plan. An effective work-family balance plan should include discovering the programs, policies, and possibilities that your employers provide for work-family balance and discussing what each member of the family can do to alleviate pressure points between work and family. You can download a free plan from our website at: https://www.fatherhood.org/doclibrary/business/WorkFamilyBalancePlan.pdf
Dads truly do help moms to balance work and family. These are just a few simple ways that
both parents can work together to help create success in the workplace and solution at
home.
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