Focus on Women and Men
Opinion poll on the support for men taking parental leave | Contents |
Source: www.mpsv.cz
The institution of parental leave is one of the instruments that should help to realize in an ordinary, everyday life of men and women the principal of gender equality (equal opportunities for men and women). The issue of parental leave has to be solved in the context with attitudes of the population to roles of parents as well as “untraditional” forms of care of child. Results of some of the foreign researches show that too conservative and rigid attitudes to the performance of parental role are even the main barrier in realization of equal sharing of parental (as well as partner) roles of a man and a woman in the private sphere. Thus, it is necessary to know opinion of our population in this respect as well as how their attitudes differentiate according to social and demographic indicators.
For this purpose, a special sociological survey was carried out within an omnibus survey of the Public Opinion Research Centre (CVVM). The opinion poll on the population attitudes to parental roles, parental leave and paternity leave was realized in cooperation of two teams of the Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic – Gender & Sociology and the CVVM as an order of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the CR. The poll was carried out by trained interviewers of the Public Opinion Research Centre. Population surveyed were inhabitants of the Czech Republic aged 15 and more. It was made with a quota sample of 1,067 respondents (521 men and 546 women) on the basis of proportionate representation of quota characteristics in the population of the CR, which were: sex, age, education attained, size of the place of residence, and region. Below you can find parts selected from the final report on the opinion poll.
Legislative measures to establish equality of the role of both parents
Although the possibility “to stay at home with the child” is increasing for men on the basis of legislative amendments (which thus signals the development directed to bigger equality between men and women), inequality in receiving some benefits still remains to exist. If a father or better to say married man-father or a man-father cohabiting with his common-law wife stays at home relatively short time after the birth of their child (during some first 20 weeks after the delivery), he is not entitled to the same type of financial support as the woman-mother. The inequality between a man-father and woman-mother thus formally persists; it was not eliminated absolutely.
Table 1: Total number of parental benefits paid
Period | Number of women paid | Number of men paid | Total (men and women) | Share of men (%) |
| 12/2000 - 5/2001 | 530 701 | 4 227 | 534 928 | 0.79 |
| 6/2001 - 11/2001 | 524 736 | 4 298 | 529 034 | 0.81 |
| 12/2001 - 5/2002 | 528 251 | 4 532 | 532 783 | 0.85 |
| 6/2002 - 11/2002 | 519 163 | 4 650 | 523 813 | 0.89 |
| 12/2002 - 5/2003 | 517 421 | 4 759 | 522 180 | 0.91 |
Share of men in the total number of those receiving parental benefit is gradually slightly increasing. Most men receiving the parental benefit for a long time live in the Karlovarský, Ústecký and Moravskoslezský Region.
Attitudes of population to the performance of parental role
Attitudes and opinion of the population regarding performance of parental role were surveyed by a set of statements, for which the questioned men and women could select one possibility from the following scale: I totally agree – I more or less agree – I more or less disagree – I definitely disagree or they could decide for the alternative „I do not know“.
Attitudes of the public are rather conservative as regards the roles of a mother and a father. It was confirmed that a mother is still ascribed the role of a care person (a small child should be cared of a women predominantly) and a father the role of the breadwinner. Women are even somewhat more conservative in their attitudes than men when their role in upbringing and after a divorce is in concern. By these two attitudes they demonstrate they consider themselves to be more important actors in bringing up of children when compared to men. The least conservative attitude is adopted as for prospective maintaining of marriage “at all costs” when there are small children in the family.
While at perceiving traditional scope of parental roles men and women more or less agree, that is to say differences in their answers are not so big, a different situation is with “new” views on the parental role both of men and women. Women on one hand tend to demand that men devote time to spending with their family; however, on the other hand, women confirm by their answers that they consider themselves to be the more important parent. Moreover, women even more often deny ability of men to take care of small children and thus suggest that men are less competent parents from the point of view of women. “Embarrassment” is what appears when it comes to the question about the presence of a father at the delivery of a child – almost every third respondent does not know whether a father should be present at the delivery of his child.
Women stick more to their role or the form of the current performance of this role than men are willing to “admit”. On the other hand, women impose new demands on the role of father, they expect a change as for time spend with the family, but they are not willing to admit that men are competent enough as parents. Men are (at least) in their opinion in favour of change, especially when a small child is in concern. According to the opinion of majority of men (73% men, 62.8% women) a father is thus able to care of a small child equally well as its mother when it is necessary. Men thus think of themselves they are able to take care of a small child. Young people under 29 have the least conservative attitudes as for the performance of the parental role.
Attitudes of the population to parental roles are slowly changing in some aspects. On one hand the population (at least on this level) acts more responsible when fulfilling parental role when small children are in the family (they are more often than in the past in favour of maintaining of the bond). On the other hand, single-parenthood is accepted more and more. From the point of view of age and education we can say that young people and people with higher education attained are usually less conservative as for the performance of parental role than other population groups. In the case of family status and life with a steady partner it is observed that the groups underline their life experience (on the basis of situations that are typical for their life).
Performance of the parental role of a mother and a father in the past and now
A mother is more and more dominant person in a family as far as upbringing of a child is concerned judging from the activities usually only mother does with the child. Her role even “strengthened” at some activities against the past: learning with children (while father “fell”), going to the cinema, theatre or other cultural events, reading of fairy tales. A father “loses” in learning, doing sports with children, punishing them, decision-making on the future profession or study, namely “on the account” of the fact that these activities are done by both the parents together.
When evaluating the past, men and women more often agree in their views of the performance of parental roles, while in the present their “optics” differs. The most marked differences occur at the performance of the role of a mother at talking with children and at the question who has time for children when they need it (more than 20% difference in answers of women and men), at playing, reading of fairy tales and punishing children (differences are about 15%); between 10-15% difference is at the possibility to accompany children when they go to clubs where they do their hobbies and accompany them to see the doctor, about 10% difference is at learning with children, going to the cinema and theatre with them, purchase of gifts for children. Women “overvalue” themselves according to their statements or men do “undervalue” them!
A woman is more and more dominant parent than a man, although there are more and more couples, in which both of them share the performance of the parental role in this or that aspect. Decision-making in families gets all the more democratic, both partners participate in it in the biggest number of families.
Ordinary operation of a household
Ensuring of an ordinary, everyday operation of a household such as shopping, tidying up, cooking, care of children, etc. still depends mostly on women (now 44.1%, in the past 50.6%). On the other hand, it is necessary to underline that there are less cases, in which only a woman was to take care of all that (from 31.7% to 9.8%) and much more cases, in which parents divided their tasks (29.2% now against 7.8% in the past).
Population attitudes to parental or paternity leave of men
Paternity leave – yes or not? With introduction of a special leave for fathers (so-called paternity leave), which would be paid by an employer and a man would have the right to stay at home for some time after his child’s delivery, more than 50% of the population agree. From those, who agree with the introduction of paternity leave, most of them (over 50%) are in favour of a one-week or two-week leave. More than two weeks would be elected by some 30% respondents.
Table 2: Agree with paternity leave
 | Number | % |
Yes | 577 | 54.1 |
No | 173 | 16.2 |
Do not know | 316 | 29.7 |
Who are fathers at paternity leave?
A group of men caring of small children (men on “paternity leave“) can be looked at from various points of view. The basic are certainly as follows:
- Scope of intervention of external circumstances and inner decision;
- Participation in care of a child;
- Participation in household works;
- Possibility to access labour market.
a) Traditional fathers
One group consists of fathers, who take care of their children; however, they were rather forced to do so by external conditions. If they were to decide themselves, they would most probably decide not to stay at home with children. According to the data from opinion polls on attitudes and from the quality survey, however, it cannot be determined more precisely how big group these men form among fathers taking care of their children. Despite that, it can be expected that these men will take parental leave rather in the regions with high unemployment rate provided that their position in the labour market is worse than that of their wives, especially when they are unemployed for a long time. Nevertheless, they are not only men with bad position in the labour market (low qualification, blue-collar professions, lower education), but also men in unfavourable life situations (widowed, abandoned by their female partner, and the like). These two aspects, however, often combine.
Men caring of children “out of necessity” in our survey were men, who did not do this care with a big interest. If they do not live with their female partner, they had to be able to take care of the entire household operation, but this situation usually did not last for a long time. Division of labour in two-parent families of these men was the most traditional in comparison with the others. These men had also rather conservative opinions as regards the role of a mother and a father and when they had the possibility they also behaved in the most stereotype way (in most cases they were not present at the delivery of the child, etc. unlike other men).
b) Fathers for hundred percent, partners only “fifty-fifty“
Their decision to stay at home with the child reflects both external factors (the fact that position in the labour market of their female partner is better than theirs usually plays a substantial role) as well as to a bigger or lesser extent also inner “reasons” (desire, curiosity, “conviction”, etc.). These men usually cope well with the new role and feel good in it. Although work is important in their lives, they do not give it a bigger importance (usually they do not put emphasize on career at all or only a bit). More often, these men have intellectual professions (related to care and upbringing – such as teachers, or to communication with others – editors and the like) or artistic professions (highly creative).
Female partners of these men are often very ambitious. In every case, they are willing to leave part of the care of the child to the man and are rather tolerant as to the performance of his role. Although this type is very close to the next, it differs from the next type in the aspect of division of labour. It is observed, that although many men are happy to take care of the child and they do so with interest, usually they do not do that all the day as well as they do not do majority of the household works. In families of these men there is a major shift in the performance of the role of a father as well as in the performance of household works towards bigger participation in them, but the scope of this participation is still not the same women would require. It can be expected that when these men start to work again, the division of labour and roles within the family will “return” back to a more traditional form.
c) Men as both fathers and partners
This group represents a certain ideal some men can get close to. These fathers have an inner urge to care of the child and they realize this need not only during parental leave but also in their future life. Men are not only caring fathers, but most of all also equal partners to their wives – the same as their female partners they work and take care (“completely”) of their child. Equality between a man and a woman in this case works not only in the care of a child and household, but also in the possibility to work. Family and work are usually of the same value for these men. However, they do not have to be on a parental leave as they usually “only” decrease their working activity to be able to devote time also to their child.
d) Men as mothers (“Mummy-Daddy”)
The last group are men, who take care of both the child and the household completely and voluntarily. In families of these fathers an “inverse” model of division of labour is functioning – and usually it includes also care of a child at least during the time they are at home with the child. However, these cases are very rare. These men do not work; however, their female partner is fully devoted to her work. Whether this model is kept also after the man returns to the labour market cannot be estimated.
From the above-mentioned it is obvious that not all situations, in which a man is at home and cares of a child, can be considered ideal from the point of view of application of the principle of equality. In this sense what is the closest to the ideal is the model of alternating in the care of a child and doing of household works (the model of shared parenthood). This model of alternations, however, does not mean that part of the parental leave a woman is at home and the other part a man is at home (although it is possible) but rather the fact that both partners alternate during a week. They alternate both at home and at performance of their labour activity.
Although “fathers on parental leave” are still not a usual phenomenon, the population contains more and more men having personal experience with the stay “on parental leave”. Attitudes of the population as a whole to fathers on parental leave are rather responsive (most people think that in their job a man could take parental leave without problems and his colleagues would not mind it). The immediate surroundings of a concrete man caring of the child are rather responsive and tolerant. Fathers on parental leave are less and less considered a rarity, something “suspicious”.