Journoz: Updates for Australian Journalists

All wrong

After years of a "white picket fence" PM, it is refreshing to read new research from the Social Policy Research Centre (www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/) at UNSW stating that children of solo mothers are cared for as well as children of partnered mothers. The single life may also have its advantages. The report says: "Contrary to the popular expectation that being a single mother entails more housework than being a married mother, it seems that the absence of a man slightly reduces the domestic burden upon mothers." Could this be because the report shows that "fathers in families with a youngest over 5 years old actually do less [housework/childcare] than men in childless couples"? (How do they get away with it?) The report, Time to Care: a comparison of how couple and sole parent households allocate time to work and children, finds no support for the ideas that children of solo mothers receive less, or less good, parental care than children of two-partnered households. The full report is at www.sprc.unsw.edu.au/dp/DP133.pdf. But will John Howard take any notice? I doubt it. Posted by belinda at June 11, 2004 11:16 AM

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