A new study conducted by Shira Offre, professor of sociology and anthropology at Bar-Ilan University (Israel) confirms the complexity for working women of managing their family life without stress. If the majority of studies have analyzed the inequality of the distribution of household tasks, that of Shira Offre emphasizes the mental aspect of the management of family life, and the stress it generates.
The study focused on a subgroup of 402 mothers and 291 fathers who participated in the American study “500 Family Study” which sought to understand how middle-class families reconcile family life and work. Most of the parents in this study have a good level of education and income.
Women are often held responsible for family matters. “I suspect that because mothers generally bear the primary responsibility for childcare and family life, they are more likely to think about the more constraining aspects of family organization. Looking for a child at daycare, arranging appointments, treating a sick child, these situations generate stress and worry adds Shira Offer.
“We know that mothers are the ones who usually adjust their working hours to meet the needs of the family. They come home earlier in the evening, they stay home when the children are sick “. This situation stresses women who suffer from not devoting themselves enough to their work, who think that they always have to make up for lost time. This management of family-work schedules therefore also generates concerns among mothers who are also unable to detach themselves from their work once they return home. Active fathers who have been able to devote themselves completely to their work during the day, arrive more serene and immerse themselves more easily in family life.
Fathers should be encouraged to be more active in the domestic sphere. “This encouragement must take place at a state and organizational level by making it possible for them, for example, to leave work earlier, to start it later, to be absent from work, and to take breaks during the day to manage family matters“, explains the author of the study. “I think if fathers could do this without being viewed as less engaged workers, they would take on more responsibility in the home, which would lead to greater gender equality.“.
