In many countries, more and more men are staying at home to look after their children when women

work full-time. What are the reasons? Is it a positive or negative development?

In this day and age, with the promotion of gender equality worldwide, an increasing number of men bear
the responsibility for child care while their wives are working full time. Personally, I deem this as the
result of equal right movement as well as women’s outstanding performance in certain areas, though I
think it may not be a positive development for the harmful consequences it may have for the working
women and children.

The increasing number of men staying at home and taking care of their offspring can be attributed to the
impacts of equal right promotion. With the spread of feminism as well as campaigns and marches
demanding for equality in education, workplace and other fields, more opportunities are granted for
women in the studying and working environment. This not only encourages women to prove themselves
but also reduces the burden on men to be breadwinner and gives them an alternative of taking up child
care. Furthermore, women’s better performance in certain fields reduces the recruitment of male
workers, making them stay at home. For example, the recruitment of mainly women in such fields as
education, healthcare and logistics due to their sociable nature and a reduction in the number of factory
jobs make many men redundant and drive them to taking care of their children while their wives are
working. In such fields, women’s talents allow them to outweigh men and free them of burdening
household chores as well as prevalent stereotypes.

However, this trend can be detrimental to the working wives. They may have to suffer from stress caused
by social prejudices of fixed men and women’s roles; moreover, they are taking more responsibility than
those in the past. Working women have to shoulder the financial burden, which is additional pressure
apart from the household chores they have to do at home, and this may result in mental diseases such as
depression and health deterioration. Children are also victims of this trend, with potential serious harm
done to their upbringing. Lacking the maternal care and sympathy, children are more likely to be socially
inept than those accompanied by their mother. Additionally, a mother’s sympathy and thorough care
guides the teenagers through the rebel period and orientates them towards being all-round citizens.

In conclusion, in the event of the spread of equal rights worldwide along with women’s outstanding
performance in certain areas, an increasing number of men are taking their wives’ responsibility of
rearing children; however, this may be disastrous to both the working women and their children.