We hear a lot about the difficulties moms face finding enough time for work and family life, but plenty of dads are struggling to juggle these obligations as well.
A new survey from Boston College’s Center for Work & Family – out just in time for Father’s Day – finds that working dads are dealing with many of the same issues working moms face – and a surprising number of them would consider chucking it all to stay home with kids.
The survey isn’t exactly representative of the population as a whole. It looked at 963 working fathers employed by four Fortune 500 companies. In addition, around three-fourths of those surveyed had at least a bachelor’s degree and earned more than $75,000 a year.
Still, the results were telling. Nearly six in 10 of the fathers surveyed said they had not been able to get everything done at home because of their job.
In addition, many of the dads surveyed seemed to want to be more equal parents than they actually are. Although 65 percent of dads surveyed said both parents should provide equal amounts of care, only 30 percent said they actually do divide care equally. In most cases, they said the other parent was the one providing more care.
Family clearly played a role in their work life decisions. More than nine in 10 said that if they were considering a new job, they would consider how much that job would interfere with their ability to care for their children.
Perhaps most surprising: Over half said they would consider being a stay-at-home dad if their spouse made enough for the family to live comfortably.