Unforeseen consequences
By Fleur
@Fleura (30404)
United Kingdom
May 20, 2019 2:35am CST
Whenever the authorities bring in some social reform, there are always unforeseen consequences. Sometimes the changes are far more successful than expected, sometimes less, and sometimes something completely unexpected happens.
I was interested yesterday to read about the effects of increased paternity leave in Spain. Presumably the reforms were intended to make childcare more egalitarian and/or to make it easier for women to continue their workforce roles. However the researchers found that in addition, those fathers who took more time with their children were less likely to be keen to have another soon afterwards.
The reasons behind this are not known. Was it because the fathers now appreciated more fully the hard work involved in looking after a baby and didn’t want to do it again? Was it because the mothers were enjoying their careers and didn’t want to take another break? Was it the financial costs? Was it subconscious? Hormonal? Who knows, but it is certainly interesting.
Did you (men) or the men in your life (women) look after the babies?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047272718302299
12 people like this
8 responses
@LadyDuck (471421)
• Switzerland
20 May 19
@Fleura My husband did not want children and he was very clear about that before we even thought to get married. I accepted and I liked to travel with him and work with him during all my life. We have always been self employed, I know that it would have been a serious problem with a baby.
2 people like this
@Fleura (30404)
• United Kingdom
20 May 19
They compared couples who had just slipped into the eligibility for paternity with those who just missed out but were otherwise similar, so financial problems should have been pretty much the same for both groups in this study.
I was (am) very lucky, but didn't really realise it - I just kind of assumed it was something we would do together, and it was!
2 people like this
@yanzalong (18988)
• Indonesia
20 May 19
We haven't paternity leave for men. Maybe we will.
2 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16762)
• China
20 May 19
Here fathers have paternity leave too,however in general, the grandparents take on more childcare work than fathers.
2 people like this
@ihasaquestion (8275)
•
20 May 19
Maybe the social and economic aspects help parents with growing children to appreciate life more.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
17 Jul 19
As you know (from reading my posts), I absolutely adore playing with babies. If my wife worked, and I took care of our 1-year-old and 2 1/2-year-old, would I not want to return to work? It's possible. I could easily be "Mr. Mom." But I also love work, whether it be teaching college students (or little kids) or doing research. Many brainy birds (Socrates, Chinese philosophers, Carl Jung) have spoken about how "The mean is good," or "We need balance in our lives." I think "balance" is a worthy goal to strive for.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (30404)
• United Kingdom
17 Jul 19
Indeed, perhaps there will be a move towards a 3-day 'work' (as in paid work) week for everybody, then parents can share the work at home. In a way that would be getting closer to the old way, when work was at home (for example when everyone had some sort of farm or smallholding, practically all work was at home whether in the house or on the land, and the children would have spent time with both their parents and with other family members, helping with (or otherwise) and learning various tasks). This is not so easy now that so much work is text-based and not practical any more.
