Hear DadsClub radio interview on Dads leading the world

Can this be true????

Compared to fathers in Italy or France, Australian dads are domestic paragons, a new study shows.

Even compared to fathers in Denmark, where the government supports their involvement in childcare, Australian dads hold their own.

”They do less than Australian women but they compare favourably to men in some other countries,” says Lyn Craig, a senior research fellow at the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of NSW.

Australian fathers, her study shows, are run off their feet.

Their long hours in paid work combined with their domestic labours means they work harder than Danish, French or Italian fathers and the same as Americans.

For example, they spend 10 to 11 hours a day in paid and domestic work compared to eight hours for Danish men.

”Intensive parenting seems to be a phenomenon of Anglo countries,” she says.

”Australian men and women -but especially women – spend more time with their children than do parents in the other countries, with only the US coming close.”

French dads

The French, in particular, are sanguine about time spent with their children. French fathers spend on average 20 minutes a day in routine physical care of their children aged under five, and in accompanying them places, compared to 40 minutes by Australian fathers. They also spend much less time reading to them and playing with them.

French mothers spend a mere 100 minutes a day doing childcare compared to more than 160 minutes by Australian mothers.

Taken  from Adele  Horin article: Our dads better than yours: Aussies lead the world in parenting
What are your thoughts?