For working parents in the U.S., the challenge of juggling careers and family life continues to exist a front-burner issue – one that is being recognized by a growing number of employers who take adopted family-friendly policies such as paid leave. Only while few Americans want to see a return to traditional roles of women at home and men in the workplace, one reality persists: Women well-nigh oft are the ones who adjust their schedules and brand compromises when the needs of children and other family members collide with work, Pew Research Heart data show.

In a 2013 survey, we found that mothers were much more likely than fathers to written report experiencing significant career interruptions in order to attend to their families' needs. Part of this is due to the fact that gender roles are lagging behind labor forcefulness trends. While women represent almost half of the U.S. workforce, they still devote more fourth dimension than men on average to housework and child intendance and fewer hours to paid piece of work, although the gap has narrowed significantly over time. Amidst working parents of children younger than 18, mothers in 2013 spent an average of 14.2 hours per week on housework, compared with fathers' 8.vi hours. And mothers spent 10.7 hours per week actively engaged in child intendance, compared with fathers' seven.2 hours.

Very Few Americans Say Full-Time Working Mom Is Ideal for Young Children

Another factor is the manner that club views the bond betwixt mothers and their children. In a 2012 Pew Research survey, the vast bulk of Americans (79%) rejected the notion that women should return totheir traditional role in lodge. Notwithstanding when they were asked what is all-time for young children, very few adults (16%) said that having a female parent who works full time is the "platonic state of affairs." Some 42% said that having a female parent who works role time is platonic and 33% said what'due south best for immature children is to have a female parent who doesn't work at all. Even among full-fourth dimension working moms, merely about 1-in-five (22%) said that having a full-time working mother is platonic for immature children.

When asked what's all-time for women themselves, the public expressed a similar sentiment. Only 12% of adults said the ideal situation for women with immature children is to work full time. About half (47%) said working part time is ideal for these women, while 33% said not working at all would be the best situation.

The public applies a much dissimilar standard to fathers. When we asked about the ideal situation for men with young children, fully seven-in-ten adults said working total time would be ideal for these fathers. One-in-five adults said office-time work would be platonic and merely 4% said it would be best for these dads not to work at all.

In reality, the "ideal" state of affairs is not always the most practical, nor is information technology ever accessible. In fact, according to U.S. government data, 64% of mothers with children younger than six are in the labor strength, and amidst working mothers, 72% work full time.

Mothers, More Than Fathers, Experience Career InterruptionsI consequence is that while 42% of mothers with some work experience reported in 2013 that they had reduced their work hours in gild to care for a child or other family member at some bespeak in their career, only 28% of fathers said the same. Similarly, 39% of mothers said they had taken a meaning amount of time off from work in order to treat a family member (compared with 24% of men). And mothers were nigh three times as likely every bit men to report that at some point they quit a job so that they could intendance for a family unit member (27% of women vs. 10% of men).

Information technology's of import to annotation that when we asked people whether they regretted taking these steps, the resounding answer was "No." However, information technology's too important to note that women who had experienced these interruptions were much more likely than men to say that this had a negative impact on their career. For instance, women who took time off at some point in their work life to treat a child or other family member were twice equally likely as men who did the same to say that this hurt their career overall (35% vs. 17%). Similarly, among those who took a significant amount of time off from work to look subsequently a family member, 32% of women compared with xviii% of men said doing this hurt them professionally.

According to many economists, family-related career interruptions can undermine women's economic prospects in a variety of means, by contributing to the gender wage gap and by narrowing the pipeline that feeds top-level jobs. Of course, for lots of women these interruptions may serve as the goad to a more than balanced life which may in turn outweigh whatever lost financial benefits.

In her new volume "Unfinished Business organization: Women, Men, Work, Family unit," Anne-Marie Slaughter raises many of these issues, and in a contempo New York Times article, Slaughter said that what is needed in order to change individual workplaces is a "civilisation change: primal shifts in the fashion nosotros call up, talk and confer prestige." Our information suggest that a generational shift, if not a culture alter, may be coming. When we asked young adults (ages 18 to 32) who don't yet have children whether they anticipate that becoming a parent will make it harder or easier for them to advance in their task or career, young men were just as likely as immature women to say that children will probable tedious downward their career advancement (roughly lx% in each group). This suggests that Millennial men may be entering their careers with a different set of expectations about what balancing family life and work volition entail.

At the same time, though, among young adults with children, women are much more likely than men to say beingness a working parent makes it harder for them to get ahead at work (58% of Millennial moms say this, versus 19% of Millennial dads).

These issues raise anew debates over government and workplace policies designed to back up parents and families. While the national conversation continues, working parents beyond America will continue to juggle their many responsibilities – making time for caregiving forth the way.

Kim Parker is director of social trends research at Pew Research Center.