Healthy Active Living by Simon_Doyle

Getting the right work-life balance is a difficult, so much so that it seems that many dads are getting it wrong. Or are they?

Research suggests that dads who have kids at home work more – not less –than men who don't have kids. So either dads are do their best to avoid the kids by staying in work for longer or they are acting in the role of breadwinner and doing their bit to bring home the bacon.

Any working man reading this, ask yourself the question – which one are you? Are you the dad who sees your role as provider? Are you the sort who is willing to put in extra hours to ensure none of yours go without? Alternatively, do you go the other way and consider that with kids at home you should be scaling back your working hours to ensure you spend more time with them?

Whichever you are, the evidence compiled by the Families and Work Institute says that fathers work, on average, 47 hours a week, compared with 44 hours for men who either don't have children or don't live with them, or whose kids are older than 18.

You have to wonder how much of this extra work is by choice. Are men actually getting paid for the extra hours they are putting in or is it just time that they are expected to do? Maybe some are actually enjoying a bit of peace, preferring to stay in work for longer rather than face the family at home. While they are doing the extra hours, those workers who are not parents are probably singletons propping up a bar somewhere wishing they parents. Well maybe.