Childcare role of women, say parents

Mothers should stay at home with the children while dads go to work, say more than a third of Kiwi parents in a new study by the Ministry of Social Development.

Two generations after feminism launched mothers into the workplace, many New Zealanders still have traditional views on what's best for families at home and work.

The survey of more than 1000 parents showed 34 per cent agreed the father should be the breadwinner, while 53 per cent disagreed. Support was highest among Pacific Island parents (48 per cent), parents in households where only one was in paid work, or where both parents worked but one wanted to be at home.

The Colmar Brunton survey aims to provide advice to policy makers on the "sustainable management of the interface between family life and paid work life".

Although almost all questioned agreed housework and childcare should be shared equally when both parents work, less than a third practiced what they preached on the housework and only half split childcare, a finding which worries Minister of Women's Affairs, Lianne Dalziel.

"That makes it hard to deliver work/life balance policies when there aren't genuine choices," she said. "Childcare responsibilities are still falling significantly on women." Other results from the survey included:

Nearly half (46 per cent) admitted yelling at their children because of work stress, and 16 per cent blamed work stress for hitting their children.

One in five two-parent families (22 per cent) leave their children (aged up to 16 years) home alone while they work, the percentage increasing to 38 per cent for sole parents. Four per cent leave sick children home alone.

The vast majority (82 per cent) said a happy family life makes work more enjoyable and improves job performance, and 55 per cent said working made them better parents.

Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) said they made a decision to choose work in a family-friendly workplace.