'Lazy' Dads II: The Reckoning

Back in 2019, I wrote a provocative piece for this blog called “The Myth of the ‘Lazy’ Father.” I drew attention to something that had irked me, as a husband and father, for a long time: Repeatedly, researchers had shown that for married couples with kids in the modern U.S.,1 total work time was pretty equitable between spouses when paid work and home work were combined—indeed, if anything, dads work a little more. And yet, the narrative always ran in the other direction, focusing on the particular types of work where moms shouldered more of the burden, such as child care, and ignoring the possibility that couples’ division of labor might simply reflect the varying preferences of men and women. Read Full Article »