Many believe parenting has improved in recent years as roles, responsibilities and duties between the mother and father have changed. Experts say dads today are more involved in their kids' lives and doing more parenting than ever but has the pressure lessened among mothers? Does equal parenting really exist?
Psychologist Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan explores the question on equal parenting in The Conversation. She did a research on families with moms and dads who are together and who both juggle jobs and parenting duties.
She acknowledged there is some progress as a dad's role in the family has shifted based on a Pew Research analysis. It stated the number of stay-at-home fathers is increasing and dads today spend an average of seven hours on child-care compared to two and a half hours among dads in the '60s.
Even with that promising data, however, the role of moms have not been reduced. In fact, mothers have also taken on the role as family providers like dads. Moms have also been doing more multitasking, managing and organizing than ever before as the children's swirl of activities increase.
Schoppe-Sullivan pointed out while dads have been doing more parenting today, moms have also been doing more work for the family and thus the burden on mothers hasn't eased up. The psychologist said a likely explanation for this could be because motherhood remains idealized.
Mothers are still viewed as the primary caregivers in the family. So, even if dad can be relied upon to raise the kids or become "highly involved co-parents" as Schoppe-Sullivan said, the burden of keeping the wheels running smoothly in the household is still on moms.
What do you think, parents? Do you have any supporting or opposing thoughts on the subject? We'd love to hear your inputs in the comments.
