According to a recent survey by the Boston College Center for Work & Family entitled, "The New Dad: Caring, Committed and Conflicted," many fathers struggle to balance their family life with their work life. Among the findings of the survey is that many fathers are more willing than previous generations to give up their place as breadwinner in order to stay at home and care for their children.

The study, published Wednesday, looked at 1,000 U.S. fathers working at Fortune 500 companies. Data from the survey showed that over half of the men surveyed said they would consider forgoing their job to be a stay-at-home father if family finances permitted. The study only looked at married fathers, though, and did not explore how divorced fathers deal with the challenges of balancing family and work goals. While divorce does change the family picture, many experts agree that the role of a father is just as important for children after divorce as it is before divorce.

According to Brad Harrington, the executive director of the Center for Work and Family, many men still have difficulty letting old sex roles go. According to the study, many fathers didn't perceive daily child care duties as a high priority, and said they often left their spouse to manage car pooling, diaper changing, and laundry. The study also showed that many fathers did not reduce their work hours after their spouse had a child, and often took less than a week off work.

Generally, while the study did show that fathers' views are changing, it also underlined the reality that many mothers have had to deal with significant adaptation in order to manage work and that fathers are still working to strike the balance.

Source: Reuters, "Working dads' top priority is giving family love," Lauren Keiper, 17 June 2011.