Clare Stovell, from UCL’s Social Research Institute, said her work found that women were usually the ones to lead the conversations, with little discussion about the man’s work schedule “even in cases where the woman earns as much or more than her partner”.
She added: “These interviews indicate there are engrained and unquestioned expectations for fathers to work full-time, while mothers take on the primary carer role through long maternity leaves, followed by a reduction in working hours, even where women are equal or higher earners.
“Despite the expectation that couples would discuss and negotiate work-family decisions before becoming parents, these findings suggest that many make these decisions individually, especially women, and often without explicit discussions.”.
Expectations that fathers will work full-time while mothers do the bulk of the childcare – even if they are the higher earner – remain “engrained and unquestioned”, research has suggested.
A small study by University College London (UCL) found a lack of joint discussion among couples tended to result in the perpetuation of traditional gender roles in parenthood.
