Want to know the best way for a father to de-stress? Grab a broom. And maybe fold some socks.
Researchers at Lancaster University found that the happiest dads are the ones that do more of the housework themselves, spend more time with their children, and have partners that work about the same number of hours as they do. (Seriously, this is not a trick to get you to do chores, guys.)
It’s true—fathers that reported doing an equal—or in some cases, more—of the daily housework associated with childcare also reported the least amount of stress. The study also found that men are feeling a pointed lack of “family time.”
The way we “do” family has changed—not only because mothers are more likely to go out to work but also because today both mothers and fathers want close relationships with children as they are growing up, said lead researcher Dr. Caroline Gatrell.
Of course, right? I mean, who still upholds the at-arm’s-length-fathering strategy a la Don Draper? And what modern dad doesn’t want to be around to play with their kids?
But the study found that despite these changing attitudes, employers don’t seem to be catching on.
This is creating a massive problem for both men and women. Women are having their careers blocked by employers who assume that, once children come along, their commitment to the workplace will be severely compromised. But the same myth is also disadvantaging men who find themselves being their child’s main or only caregiver, because employers aren’t offering them work-life balance choices. It is time workplace attitudes changed to recognize the massive changes that have taken place in family practices in the 21st century.
Other surprises from the study: Turns out men with two children—as opposed to three or one—are the most calm. Researchers explain that new fathers are more likely to stress, and that once the third child comes around, the financial burden often causes blood pressure to rise.
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This is a really interesting study, with some surprising findings. Who would have thought that housework would be the key to a man’s happiness? Like you say, being happy through spending time with the kids is quite intuitive, but not so much the daily grind of vacuuming, ironing and washing up.I hope this study achieves its result in making employers wake up and realise that gender roles are changing, and that they need to have measures in place that reflect this change.
Caroline Gatrell is a feminist hawk with an agenda. She asked some men if they are happy, and how much house work they do. The happiest men do more housework. Eureka!
Sorry, but happy women AND men do more housework. When a family is falling apart, the first thing to go is cleanliness. A social scientist who confuses cause and effect? I think not. This witch knows exactly what she is trying to do. In a world where men are desperate for hope that there is some possibility of happiness in marriage, feminist Gatrell throws the poor drowning men a lifeline. Sorry! It is less a lifeline than a fishing line. Grab it and she will reel you in.
Make good your escape, have nothing to do with women, and reject the lies of feminist man haters who come up with a miracle cure to the cancer that afflicts marriage. The name of the cancer is feminism, and anything a feminist offers is poison.
Some of Gatrell’s other man hating work:
Cracks in the glass ceiling: women managers, stress and the barriers to success
Policy and the Pregnant Body at Work: Strategies of Secrecy, Silence and Supra‐performance
‘I’m a Bad Mum’: Pregnant Presenteeism and poor health at work
Secrets and lies: Breastfeeding and professional paid work
What a surprise! A feminist-backed study that reaches feminist conclusions? My dad did some housework but not that much but he did work for 40+ years, and is happy as a clam.
Now for the nonsense:
“Women are having their careers blocked by employers who assume that, once children come along, their commitment to the workplace will be severely compromised.”
Wrong. Employers want money, period. End of sentence. If the person that can make the most money for them is male, female, old, or young, they don’t care. If a woman’s behavior changes such that she makes less money for them than someone else, they make the business decison.
It’s not “blocking” anything. It’s reacting to the person’s attitude and behavior. I see women at work go out on maternity leave and come back to work. If they’re good, they keep moving up. If they lack the same drive and focus as someone else, others move past them. That is true for anyone, male or female.
Correlation is NOT causation.
Dang. Beat me to it.
One way to test the conclusion: see if men living alone and/or men without children are happier doing more housework or less housework. Is it really the housework causing happiness, or could there be a common cause?
The study says that fathers who less housework are ‘stressed’ more, I wonder WHAT/WHO is causing this stress, is it the mother perhaps. Every major study I have read from Canada/US and UK says that when total non relaxation hours are added up, men and women are virtually even. Yes, mothers do more housework but fathers do more hours at work. I wonder perhaps if mothers don’t see these extra hours and work and feel as though dad should be doing equal housework even though she isn’t doing equal work outside the home. This article dumps everything on the employer and I agree to a point that fathers don’t get the same ‘choices’ as mothers when it comes to work / family balance,
Does this imply that the de-stress is the result of the activities of house keeping themselves or is it because house keeping is, in a family setting, the main alternative for an adult male?
In other words is it because they are specifically doing housework or is it because they are doing something other than working outside the home on a crazy schedule?
I suppose one way to look into this would be to look at guys that are single and have no kids. The house keeping load is nowhere near as high and the work load may be lower. Would these men also be happiers focusing more on home related stuff? (In leiu of not having children or a partner I suppose this would come in the form of gardening or something.)
Doing housework is no big deal. The idea that men hate it or weren’t interested in it or better yet did it poorly was no more then propaganda in the first place. My dad didn’t do a lot of “house work” but when it came to cleaning and organizing the garage and/or basement, he was amazing. I followed his footsteps in that respect. I iron my own clothes because my wife sucks at it. Matching socks? She’s obviously color blind … dark blue is not black.
The idea that this study is supposed to show something amazing is a joke. Men are visual by nature and by accomplishing a task, start to finish that they can see results isn’t anything amazing. The difference may be that men in general don’t place cleaning as a priority in their lives but when given the task, they excel.
LOL, it’s funny that they had to do a study. I work with adolescent boys (13 to 18 years of age). We have what’s called “K-Crew” which is a kitchen crew that serves and cleans up after meals. This is a large commercial kitchen that serves on average of 150 residents and staff. When our corporate office came for inspection they said, and I quote “we’ve never seen as clean a kitchen in any of our facilities.” I sure as hell didn’t need a study to tell me what I and most men already knew. Duhhhh
Honestly, what’s with housework and feminists ? It’s something that every couple has to negotiate and in every functioning household everybody is doing something.Somebody deals with garbage, somebody cleans the bathroom, everybody washes the dishes after themselves, everybody takes care of the room they sleep in.