The definitions of what a work-life balance looks like are ever-evolving. Two-income households are now the social norm so the pull between time spent at work and time spent at home is perpetually in conflict. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the separation between work and home life was a difficult boundary to define and maintain, even if they both occurred in the same space. As we start to move our workspaces back out of the house and rejoin the outside world, questions about work-life balance and what it should look like are starting to reemerge.
What It Means to Be a Working Father
We've become accustomed to a certain level of schedule flexibility while working from home and that's slowly being pulled away from us. No doubt there will be plenty of mothers who will step forward and assert that they maintain control over their schedule for the sake of their family and home life, but what about fathers? Will fathers begin to use the family policies offered by their organizations now that they've spent two years working from home with much more freedom to be part of their family's lives?
I'd like to explore how the attitudes of fathers have changed over time in regard to utilizing family policies to balance their time between work and home and what factors might still be influencing their decision on whether or not they want to use these policies. I'd also like to explore how working men communicate their wants to be more active in the home as a father and how their willingness (or lack thereof) to participate in the home shapes their identity as a father in the workplace and in the home.
The Trends Through Time
I felt that this topic was worth exploring because discussions around opportunities for fathers almost always take a backseat to mothers being offered and using family-friendly policies to equal out their work-life balance. There's still much work to be done to truly accommodate mothers in their hopes to spend more time with their families, but there's even more that must be done for fathers.
The trend in the usage of family-friendly work policies by fathers has steadily risen since the 1960s through the 90s when two-income households were really gaining momentum as the new normal. By 2009, as presented by Duckworth and Buzzanell’s (2009) study, “Constructing Work-Life Balance and Fatherhood: Men’s Framing of the Meanings of Both Work and Family,” working fathers were making strides to spend more time with their families and be more involved in the division of family obligations. The men they interviewed were far more willing to take time off from work to see their families and held stricter boundaries between work and home life. The desire in fathers for more time away from the office peaked again in 2015, as stated by Braverman’s (2015) article, “Dads: We Want Work-Life Balance, Too.” Huge corporations in Silicon Valley began to offer their working fathers incredible options for leave in the event of childbirth.
The Truth
However, “merely having the[se] policies on the books isn’t inspiring more men to take advantage of them” (Braverman, 2015). Even the most dedicated of fathers still struggle to utilize the policies in place for them to be more active in their family's lives. Oftentimes they turn away shorter hours, flexible schedules, or paid/unpaid time off because of the socioeconomic impact it can have on their lives (Duckworth & Buzzanell, 2009). Many men fear that they will lose their jobs, lose opportunities for advancement within the organizational hierarchy (Braverman, 2015), or lose substantial income if they don't work full time or beyond.
As well, mixed messages from superiors about the availability of family policies versus the social acceptance of actually using these policies can dissuade most fathers from exploring their workplace flexibility options or negotiating a better compromise with their supervisors. Working fathers should be able to feel comfortable asking to use family-friendly workplace policies. If they feel as though they're not allowed to even ask for flexible work hours, what's the point of offering them?
The Change
Working fathers are slowly realizing that there are better options for them than being the sole breadwinner for the home and spending countless hours away from their homes and families. However, there’s much more social change that needs to happen for working fathers to be able to use family-friendly workplace policies to their full potential. I can already feel that part of the focus of my work will fall under the “Management” and “Power & Politics” lenses for revealing organizational culture we have been discussing in this Professional Communication class. There’s much to be said about how hierarchical structures in organizations have persuaded working fathers to sacrifice their “life” for their work.
References
Braverman, B. (2015). Dads: We Want Work-Life Balance, Too. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bethbraverman/2015/10/04/dads-we-want-work-life-balance-too/?sh=716dc8a13c32.
Duckworth, J., & Buzzanell, P. (2009). Constructing Work-Life Balance and Fatherhood: Men’s Framing of the Meanings of Both Work and Family. Communication Studies, 60(5), 558–573. https://doi-org.proxy.lib.odu.edu/10.1080/10510970903260392
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