One thing that the pandemic has done is to give more fathers, notably those working remotely, a chance to spend more time with their family members, especially their children. A study by Statistics Canada in 2010 indicated that about 12 percent of stay-at-home parents were the fathers, triple the number recorded in 1986. I would expect that many of us probably know at least one or more parenting couples where the man has stayed at home for a number of valid and rational reasons. Often, it is the fact that the woman is in a better paying job with good health and dental benefits, as well as opportunities for advancement. Due to changes in the labour market, data has shown that women increasingly have become the top earner in the family. In many cases, there are considerations over the high cost of childcare, particularly where it is not subsidized by the state and where affordable and licensed childcare is lacking. From a monetary point of view, it just doesn’t make any financial sense for both parents to work.
A survey by Harvard’s Making Caring Common project in June 2020 found that more than two-thirds of fathers said they felt closer to their children since the pandemic started. As well, according to a Morning Consult survey for The New York Times in 2022, 47 percent of employed fathers said flexibility and control over their hours was a top priority. This is 10 percentage points more than those who said they felt that way before the pandemic. Recruiters are also now seeing more and more men with families who are asking about the company’s position on flexible hours and parental leave provisions.
Surprisingly, many employers still require long, inflexible hours and penalize workers for prioritizing family life. However, what the pandemic and its impact on working conditions did is to expedite what was already a known trend in the labour market. Working remotely has given more fathers the opportunity to share greater responsibility in household duties and childcare. Where both parents worked, working women in the past had to do most of the household work. Now, all that has changed with the advent of new technologies and working conditions. In many occupations in certain industries, telework and hybrid work have increasingly become the norm.
There is little doubt that efforts to reduce the costs of childcare and ensure the quality of public and private childcare providers will result in influencing the current trends, particularly in Canada. Recently, provincial governments signed on to a major federal initiative to increase the amount of affordable childcare spaces across the country over the next five to ten years.
Regardless, more and more fathers will be looking to their employers to accommodate having more time to spend with their families. The issue of work-life balance is at the top of their agenda, forcing employers to adjust accordingly if they wish to retain experienced and motivated employees, both men and women.
FROLITICKS 