I was reading MommaBlogga this morning and Jordan metions a recent Pew study that shows being a parent these days is hard than it was years ago. And not only does it seem like it’s harder to be a parent, the study also states that mothers who were raising children 20-30 years ago think mothers today are doing a worse job. Great.
Either way you cut it, it IS more diffiult being a mother today. Besides the various societal factors (media, Internet, everything), women WORK outside the home. 20-30 years ago, most did not. So now, mothers have all of the responsibilities that mothers did 20-30 years ago, PLUS working 40 hours a week outside the home.
Again, I beg the question, how has the father’s role changed (generally) and what sacrifices has he (collectively) made? I wonder. Please fill me in if you have any answers.
Get off your high horse!
Comment by Lone Ranger — May 9, 2007 @ 12:50 pm |
I don’t think it has very much. Mothers are just getting more of a taste of what fathers have been doing, and many are realizing that it makes their lives harder… less time for the stuff they want to do / think they should be doing.
Of course there’s also much more expectations on fathers now to also handle half of the child care, cleaning, etc; while still handling repairs, yardwork, family planning, etc; and still put in whatever overtime his career may demand and sucking it up without complaining about it.
Comment by alen — May 9, 2007 @ 1:07 pm |
I wish it were a high horse, but it’s just plain reality.
Comment by becki325 — May 9, 2007 @ 1:07 pm |
Hi Alen -Thank you for pointing those things out – I will go back and look through again. Pew has generally put out some good studies – I didn’t even think about the timing and Mother’s Day – good point! And, at the end of the day I think parents in general, mothers and fathers, do have a harder time these days and there just doesn’t seem to be any clear answer to make things a bit easier and more “livable”.
Comment by becki325 — May 9, 2007 @ 1:11 pm |
Agreed. We live in more demanding times all around. It pays to keep a level head.
Hang in there.
Comment by alen — May 9, 2007 @ 1:14 pm |