There Are Still Significant Gaps Between Women And Men

By Author: pangsiyan
Total Articles: 130
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Yet, at least in developed Western countries, both women and men express a desire for greater equality in family life. It is evident that in terms of attitudes and beliefs, the problem cannot simply be thought of in terms of women wanting men to share more equally and men being reluctant to do so. The challenge now is to develop policies and practices based on a presumption of shared responsibility between men and women, and a presumption that there are potential benefits for men and women, as well as for families and the community, if there is greater gender equality in the responsibilities and pleasures of family life. These are becoming key concerns of researchers, policy makers, community workers and, more importantly, family members themselves.

Section B .

Despite the significant increase in the number of women with dependent children who are in the paid workforce, Australian research studies over the last 15 years are consistent in showing that divisions of labor for family work are very rigid indeed (Watson 1991) . In terms of time, women perform approximately 90 per cent of child care tasks and 70 per cent ...
... of all family work, and only 14 per cent of fathers are highly participant in terms of time spent on family work (Russell 1983). Demo and Acock (1993), in a recent US study, also found that women continue to per¬form a constant and major proportion of household labor (68 per cent to 95 per cent) across all family types (first marriage, divorced, step - family or never married), regardless of whether they are employed or unemployed in paid work.

Section C

Divisions of labor for family work are particularly problematic in families in which both parents are employed outside the home ( dual - worker families). Employed mothers adjust their jobs and personal lives to accommodate family commitments more than employed fathers do. Mothers are less likely to work overtime and are more likely to take time off work to attend to children' s needs (VandenHeuvel 1993), Mothers spend less time on personal leisure activities than their partners, a factor that often leads to resentment (Demo and Acock 1993) .

Section D .

The parental role is central to the stress related anxiety reported by employed mothers, and a major contributor to such stress is their taking a greater role in child care (VandenHeuve 1993). Edgar and Glezer (1992) found that close to 90 per cent of both husbands and wives agreed that the man should share equally in child care, yet 55 per cent of husbands and wives claimed that the men actually did this (These claims are despite the findings mentioned earlier that point to a much lower participation rate by fathers). A mother's wanting her partner to do more housework and child care is a better predictor of poor family adjustment than is actual time spent by fathers in these tasks (Demo and Acock 1993). It is this desire, together with its lack of fulfillment in most families, that bring about stress in the female parent.

Section E

Family therapists and social work researchers are increasingly defining family problems in terms of a lack of involvement and support from fathers and are concerned with difficulties involved in having fathers take responsibility for the solution of family and child behaviour problems (Edgar and Glezer 1986) . Yet, a father accepting responsibility for behaviour problems is linked with positive outcomes.

Section F

Research studies lend strong support to the argument that there are benefits for families considering a change to a fairer or more equitable division of the pleasures and pains of family life. Greater equality in the performance of family work is associated with lower levels of family stress and higher self esteem, better health, and higher marital satisfaction for mothers. There is also higher marital satisfaction for fathers, especially when they take more responsibility for the needs of their children—fathers are happier when they are more involved (Russell 1984) .