THE DADDY OF ALL DILEMMAS: RESEARCH INTO THE WORK-LIFE BALANCE DEFICIT PARADIGM AMONGST FATHERS

Debates on work-life balance have historically centered around women. Practically all of the literature verifies that women account for more take up rates of flexible working than men. This practice entrenches traditional gender roles. To examine reasons for the poor take up of work-life balance policies amongst fathers, I conducted exploratory research through interviews with six fathers from broad occupational groups.Drawing on these interviews, the findings revealed that financial matters remain one of the main considerations in deciding who stays at home with the children. Furthermore, it was uncovered that being a provider remains at the heart of a fathers' moral fibre and that workplace culture can have a negative effect on a fathers desire to progress his career through education. However, other aspects of fatherhood mentioned as more important than breadwinning were spending time with the children, acting as a role model and teaching them right from wrong. To address these concerns, there is no doubt that the norms associated with the traditional male breadwinner role will need to change also. One way of doing this would be to increase the length of paternity leave to match maternity leave. This would send a clear message that mothers are no longer seen as the primary caregivers and fathers are no longer seen as the primary earners