Dads Struggle to Balance Work and Family, Too

Just in time for Father’s Day, researchers from Boston College released a report last week that studied the way contemporary dads find and maintain a balance between the demands of work and family.

The news from the report is mixed. Today’s fathers definitely seem to be more involved in their children’s lives, and they generally find that their workplaces offer them social approval and support for their role as fathers.

On the other hand, although most companies have adopted gender-neutral policies regarding family leave, social pressure for men to do their daddying without allowing it to affect their work performance remains strong. Although women receive more negative feedback on returning to work after becoming mothers, men are expected to have less need to be flexible at work in order to make time for their family responsibilities.

In addition, while most young fathers expect that having a baby will change their day-to-day lives, the study showed that most of them found they had underestimated how much would change with the addition of children. Dads, it seems, have as much adjusting to do after the birth of a child as mothers do.

So while there’s certainly been progress, the Boston College report (titled “The New Dad”) suggests that today’s fathers have both added benefits and added challenges. A higher percentage of men today say they feel a conflict between work and home life than the percentage of working women who say the same. And since 70% of U.S. families with children have two working parents, that means a lot of men are feeling crunched.

Although most of the fathers in the study reported that fatherhood had not damaged their careers, it also turns out that becoming a father causes many men to re-evaluate their definitions of success. When fatherhood is a high priority, as it is for many young fathers today, promotion and moving up at work become less important.

The study on contemporary fatherhood was released by the Boston College Center for Work and Family earlier this week.  It was authored by Prof. Brad Harrington and Fred Van Deusen of Boston College and Jamie Ladge of Northeastern University.