That’s why so many dads work full time

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Is Switzerland a land of idlers? This is the summary of the news that has appeared in many presses in the last weeks. The reason: Part-time work is on the rise – among men too. The result, however, is an increase in business volume. Unlike men, women now work harder than before.

In the current discussion, the fact that 100 percent workload for men is still the standard is almost forgotten. Paradoxically, this is especially true for fathers.

One of them is Simone Bottan (39). Before becoming a father, the bioengineer already had a baby: his venture. The young company kept him busy from dawn to dusk and beyond. Three years later, in 2018, his first son was born. His partner reduced his workload to 80 percent. Bottan continues to work full time.

“It was clear to me that I would work 100 percent with the kids as well,” she says. And not only because the reduction of working hours is unusual in his home country of Italy, but also because it “requires my full commitment as head of a start-up”. The ETH graduate is working with his company on a protective cover for implants. Bottan says it depends on whether the start-up will survive. “If we don’t move forward, we will fail.”

The important thing is to do a lot and do a lot

The young dad is a good friend with 100 percent workload. Overall, about 82 percent of all men work full time. There are even more fathers with children younger than twelve. As figures from the Federal Bureau of Statistics show (see graph) it’s around 87 percent there. So, interestingly, fathers are more likely to work full-time than men without children. And this is despite the fact that fathers regularly indicate in surveys that they want to spend more time with their families.
How is this going together?

Markus Theunert (50) has been grappling with this question for over a decade. The founder of men.ch, the umbrella organization of Swiss men’s and fathers’ organizations, says: “The fact that men do not have access to part-time jobs is both an excuse and a reality.”

“I’m sorry” because many men could reduce their workload – but they didn’t want to do it. “Most men define themselves through their jobs,” Theunert says. “Anyone who works hard and has a lot of power is at the top of the manhood.” If a man reduces his workload, therefore he questions his position: in the company, among colleagues, among friends. At least when traditional role models prevail there.

Nothing explains this better than what a course participant says about the compatibility of work and family life. “If I work 80 percent, I’m only considered half a portion,” one seminar attendee told Theunert.

Harms part-time careers

A sentence to be signed by Lukas H.* (49). He has three kids, he’s a client at a private bank, and he says, “We’re on the sidelines with 80 percent.” Dignity – because there are no part-time jobs in his industry anyway. “We’re all working over 100 percent,” says H. In addition to office work, it’s important to gain clients in the evenings and on the weekends. Customer connections count in his business. The more special, the better.

In fact, corporate culture has a strong influence on whether or not to reduce fathers’ workloads. “If direct superiors are against part-time work, that doesn’t work very well,” says Theunert.

Journalist Stefan M.* (46) has experienced how difficult it is to reconcile a part-time job and a career. The father of the family worked for 80 percent of the time. Motto: “When I bring children into the world, I want to be there for them.” But when he applied for a management position a few years ago, he faced a choice. Full time or nothing, that’s what your boss says. So Stefan M. top up. “This was difficult for me. But I wanted to seize the chance.”

Part-time jobs have proven career killers, and this applies to both men and women. However: Men are penalized more than women if they want to work part-time. This is demonstrated by research by Daniel Kopp (37), a labor market expert at ETH’s Center for Economic Research (KOF).

Anyone who strays will be punished

For his research, Kopp analyzed how companies hire new employees. To do this, he looked at the search behavior of HR managers on a major job portal. The conclusion was clear: a man looking for a part-time job reduces his chances of getting a job. And stronger than a woman.

To be specific: If a woman is 90 percent looking for a job, her chances of being sought by employers drop by two percent. On the other hand, a man with the same profile is 17 percent less likely to be offered a job.

Kopp was not surprised by these results. “We know from studies that anyone who deviates from social norms is usually punished.” This is true for both sexes – including particularly demanding women who seem “masculine”, for example.
But it’s not just traditional role models that keep men from working part-time.

Some dads, like Jeremy Benjamin (35), prefer to go to the office. “It’s not a special pleasure to be at home with the kids all day,” says the data protection consultant. He really appreciates having breakfast and dinner with the kids and spending the weekend as a family. “Very intense – and enough for me.”

Hardly any incentives for joint childcare

There are also financial issues. Benjamin says he and his wife could have survived on less money. “But then we’d have to lower our standard of living.”

For some families, even the financial aspect plays a decisive role. “The fact that men earn more than women, on average, further reduces the incentive for an equitable division of childcare,” says expert Theunert. The result: For couples with children under the age of three, the father contributes 72 percent of the income earned.
This is not the case for Bottan, the startup’s founder, and his partner. Bottan sees no harm in his work. “I grew up with working parents too, and I don’t feel like it’s doing me any harm,” she says.

Still, as a father, he reduced his working hours. He picks up his kids from kindergarten in the evenings and plays football with his older son on the weekends. Because: “This time it belongs to my family.”

* Names changed

Source :Blick