Still, with paid family leave, less than three weeks (for men who use it) is compared to six weeks for mothers. And, of course, paid family leave is still a rarity in the U.S., though more Silicon Valley firms, including Facebook, which offers new moms and dads four months, have begun offering paid leave to employees.
Not much has changed since the summer of 2006, when I took a year off from work while my wife started graduate school. She had been home full-time with our son and daughter for almost four years at that point and was ready to re-start her career. But as I sat at the playground each day with the kids, I was typically the only father.
私の妻が大学院での勉強を始めたために、私が一年間仕事を休んだ2006年の夏からほとんど変わっていない。当時、妻は私達の息子と娘のためにほぼ4年間専業主婦をしてきたので、自身のキャリアを再開する時が来ていた。けれども、私が子供たちと公園に行くたび、大抵、そこに居る父親は私一人だった。
私の妻が大学院へ通っている間に一年の休暇を取った時から2006年の夏からあまり変化はない。当時、彼女はほぼ4年間息子と娘の為に家におり、彼女のキャリアを再スタートする準備が出来ている頃だった。しかし子供たちと公園へ行く度、公園内にいる父親は私一人だった。
The number of stay-at-home dads has inched up in recent years, but so has the number of stay-at-home moms (moms who don’t work outside the home) — from 23 percent of all mothers in 1999 to 29 percent in 2012.
By comparison, in a 2013 paper, researchers at the University of Minnesota found that the percentage of U.S. households with a stay-at-home dad had climbed from an average of 1.2 percent in the 10 years ending in 1979 to 3.4 percent in the 10 years ending in 2009.
“It seems that stay-at-home father households are not common for several reasons,” they wrote. “First, perceptions toward stay-at-home fathers as well as career mothers are negative. Both males and females appear to perceive working fathers and stay-at-home mothers more favorably than they perceive stay-at-home fathers and career mothers. These negative perceptions are embedded in gender role expectations that the non-traditional stay-at-home father households violate.”
The authors also note that because men typically earn more, there is more economic pressure for them to continue working. But the social pressure is significant, which is where I hope Zuckerberg’s example will help make a difference.
著者は一般的に男性がより稼ぐため、継続して働く様経済的圧力が彼らにかかっていると供述している。しかし社会的圧力は顕著で、Zuckerberg氏の例が変化を生むことを望む。
著者はまた、一般的に男性の方が高い収入を得ているために、彼らが働き続けるべきという経済的圧力もより高いと指摘する。しかし社会的圧力の影響は多大で、それこそ私がZuckerberg氏の一例で改善に向かうことを願うものである。
“Stay-at-home fathers are much more likely to be subjected to negative societal perceptions if they choose to stay at home than mothers who choose to stay at home,” the authors wrote. “To put it differently, mothers seem to have more leverage in choosing between work and home while fathers almost have no leverage and are expected to work.”
Of course, Zuckerberg isn’t saying at this point that he’s going to take a year off or quit his job or anything like that to raise the baby. But seeing a public figure of his stature publicly embrace paternity leave is still heartening.
To the extent there are still cultural, or self-imposed, taboos about men deciding to stay home with their kids, I’m hopeful that Zuckerberg’s example will serve to reboot the conversation.
![[削除済みユーザ]](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/695023b4efd563721d13716b1457bc73.png?d=identicon&mode=crop&r=PG&s=42)
