The Dual-career Syndrome

You roll out of bed as your spouse’s alarm shatters the eardrums. Rubbing your eyes, you shuffle to the kitchen and get breakfast done whilst your spouse takes a wake up shower to prepare for corporate battle. Handing over the Tupperware-ed lunch you fixed, you say: “Bye, dear! Have a good day at work!” And she’s off. Welcome to the world of the Househusband.

More and more, this phenomenon of the “stay-at-home-dad” or the “home-engineer” amongst men has been slowly coming out of the closet in modern times. A recent article in Fortune magazine plastered the image of the dear house-hubby adorned with apron and three daughters. Is this merely a sensationalised story, or is there hope for corporate women out there?

But, before I let all rip, let’s examine the statistics. In a trend that shows no signs of slowing, men now get fewer than 50% of the university degrees offered. Very un-PC, I know, but the fact is, more and more men are disappearing from the floor of the lecture halls. Although males still dominate in more traditional industries, such as engineering, there has been a steady decline in the participation of males in higher education. This is juxtaposed by the incredible growth of educated women as equal opportunity policies became de rigeur. And the hits keep on coming. Companies have more women on their payroll than ever, and women managers and senior executives are becoming commonplace these days. A recent study in Harvard even stated that at least 30% of working wives earn more than their husbands.

“Open your eyes. There is a sea change on the way. I noticed that at the local university, the women outnumber the men in noticeable amounts. My wife noted recently while visiting a relative in the hospital, that most of the young doctors were female. As a male, I'm sure that the future is female, and women will be in charge in every field by the next twenty years,“ reaffirms Jenny, a 40 year-old househusband.

As such, corporate policies and practices have been adjusted accordingly (think flexi-time, maternity leave and day-care), but perhaps the bigger issue would be the effect on the traditional family structure we all know and sometimes debate.

In the 50’s, a working woman was nearly unheard of. The man was still bringing home the bacon and women were mastering the art of making the home and nurturing the children. Then came liberalisation and feminism movements that helped women claw their way into the battle bunkers of the corporate world. Dual-income careers are what the majority of households possess today, and with that, the additional stress of making a home and family life work without the parents’ involvement. Sure, we still make it work, but with a lot of difficulty and challenge. And the ones who hurt the most are often the children. So what’s the latest remedy society has offered up to deal with this predicament?