A recent survey of over 9,000 workers in eight different countries showed that fathers were more willing than mothers to make career sacrifices in order to focus on their families.
Huffington Post broke down the findings:
Sixty-seven percent of U.S. men, compared with 57 percent of women, have changed jobs or would be willing to do so to better serve their family needs. Fifty-seven percent of men have given up a promotion or would be willing to give one up versus 49 percent of women. Thirty-six percent of men would take a pay cut, compared with 33 percent of women. And, most intriguing: Twenty-six percent of men would move to another country with better parental leave benefits, while just 18 percent of women would do the same.
While some of this may seem shocking, it’s no secret that gender norms within the household are changing. A majority of families now have two parents who work as opposed to one. But why are men more willing to sacrifice for their family? The answer, which the firm that conducted the poll made sure to stress, is that men generally have a lot less to lose when it comes to career changes. Just because they’re stepping off the fast track now, doesn’t mean they won’t be able to come back. Whereas for women, scaling back to focus on family is statistically proven to have negative affects on their careers.
So, on the upside, it looks like dads will be home more often, doing more housework and childrearing. But the icky downside of it is that the benefit comes with its own kind of sexism, which–as always–has found a way to rear its ugly head. First, it was hard for women to get work. Now, it’s hard for us to stop working. Amazing how that works.
How do you feel about this? Is more career flexibility for fathers a good thing? Or do the benefits not outweigh the costs? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
