Father's Day is coming, and we have the usual suspects writing the usual schlock about how poorly men are treated by our evil castrating harpies and their allies in the state. We were also treated to Erick Erickson and Lou Dobbs and Juan Williams mansplaining to the world (with Erickson screaming "Science!" like that old guy in the Thomas Dolby video from the 80's) how America faces imminent collapse because in 40% of American households the woman is the chief bread-winner.
As a father and a member of one of those 40%, I would suggest that the collapse of marriage as an institution, the ubiquity of women in the workforce and increasingly as the major income provider is not the result of an evil plot by liberals to destroy America, but is the direct result of a series of economic and social policies that privilege large corporate profits over the two-parent household. Any number of policy alternatives have been offered up over the years, from strengthening unions and collective bargaining to real flex time hours so parents can have more time with their families to altering school hours so there are fewer children returning to an empty house. None of these have ever been taken very seriously, and the results are the breakdown of traditional family structures in the face of economic pressures that make the two-parent household less and less tenable.
As a father this Father's Day, I think we need to work toward enacting laws and policies that are truly family-friendly. Even at the cost of corporate profits. Stop blaming women and liberals and start looking at the reality all families face. The real culprit behind the decline of the traditional two-parent household isn't bad morals. It's bad policies.
As a father and a member of one of those 40%, I would suggest that the collapse of marriage as an institution, the ubiquity of women in the workforce and increasingly as the major income provider is not the result of an evil plot by liberals to destroy America, but is the direct result of a series of economic and social policies that privilege large corporate profits over the two-parent household. Any number of policy alternatives have been offered up over the years, from strengthening unions and collective bargaining to real flex time hours so parents can have more time with their families to altering school hours so there are fewer children returning to an empty house. None of these have ever been taken very seriously, and the results are the breakdown of traditional family structures in the face of economic pressures that make the two-parent household less and less tenable.
As a father this Father's Day, I think we need to work toward enacting laws and policies that are truly family-friendly. Even at the cost of corporate profits. Stop blaming women and liberals and start looking at the reality all families face. The real culprit behind the decline of the traditional two-parent household isn't bad morals. It's bad policies.
