The Pew Research Center recently released the “Modern Parenthood Report,” which reveals the results of their latest polling that asks married and cohabiting parents with children under 18 to compare their workload at home with that of their spouses or partners. In an overview of the research, Kim Parker and Wendy Wang write:
The way mothers and fathers spend their time has changed dramatically in the past half century. Dads are doing more housework and child care; moms more paid work outside the home. Neither has overtaken the other in their “traditional” realms, but their roles are converging . .
What About You?
If you are a married or cohabiting parent with a child (or children) under 18, you can answer a few easy questions then see how your responses compare to the responses given by survey participants. Additionally, you can apply a filter and see how your responses compare to those given only by mothers or those given only by fathers.
So What?
While the workload is not yet equal, the decades long trend toward equality is illustrated in the image at right. While that graphic displays the average number of hours per week spent by mothers and fathers on a variety of tasks in 1965 and in 2011, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Consider these additional data points:
- 31% of all parents think they do equal child care and equal housework when compared to their spouse or partner, and
- Roughly 60% of two-parent households with children under age 18 have two working parents.
Think about the church of 1965 and the church of 2011.
- How well has it adjusted to the changing ways mothers and fathers spend their time during a typical week?
- How well has your own congregation changed in ways that reflect and support these shifts?