Opinie. Mannen zorgen revisited. De zorgbijdrage van mannen is veranderd, maar blijft ambivalent
Auteurs
Marianne Grunell
Samenvatting
I revisit my 2002 Phd on men’s changing
contribution to everyday care and the new
social appeal being made to them. A decade
on I am sceptical on my conclusion as to
whether a major historical change has had
occurred. The feeling of urgency in social
organisations and at the authorities has
diminished. Men themselves – in particular
the focus group, fathers with young children
– remain ambivalent. Although stating that
they would like to work less to care more,
only relatively few work part-time. This small
group, mostly highly educated men, working
as civil servants or in the social sector
remains a privileged group, with a pro-care
culture and paid care arrangements. Far more
widespread are the full-time working fathers,
whose attitude to care has changed their
free time activities. Their choice fits well with
the Dutch one-and-a-half-earning model, in
which mothers work part-time and men fulltime.
The interests of both are served well in
this model which will probably dominate the
coming years.