Last week brought two separate pieces containing comments by American women on the differences between the UK & the US in paternal involvement in childcare.
Hanna Rosin, author of The End of Men, told Hugo Rifkind in an interview published in Saturday’s Times that she hopes her 9 year old son ‘will be able to be seen in the middle of the day in the playground with nobody passing by the playground thinking ‘what’s wrong with that guy? He must be out of a job’'
In an Atlantic interview with Jordan Weissman on the question of why women are still paid less than men, labor economist Francine Blau remarked that ‘Just traveling in Europe recently, I've seen a lot more men pushing strollers during the day’.
Hugo Rifkind himself wrote that Rosin’s comment made him ‘feel very British’ because neither he nor any of his friends has ever felt any stigma when out & about with small children, whatever time of whatever day of the week that might be.
That confirms my observation of men – of all classes, - seen out & about in sole charge of young children which I first identified well over a decade ago. Formal arrangements for paternal leave do not seem to have very much to do with it, rather it seems to be that shift work is often seen as a solution to child care problems. Plus I think full-time help at home is less affordable in this country. In at least two cases known to me the father takes the baby to childcare provided at their place of work. Though undoubtedly many of the men clearly are unemployed, & they, if anything, have had even more need for the stigma to be removed.
Links
Hanna Rosin
The Atlantic: Why Are Women Paid Less?
Related post
Caring fathers
Technology & the rise of fertility
