Equality in Marriage Matters — Why We Need 50/50 Parity on Childrearing

Stories have been abounding on the internet of the huge burden that women in particular are taking on during lockdown, with working-from-home husbands buried away in their study whilst women continue to hold down their jobs and home school their children — and most likely doing the shopping and cleaning too. This was brought home to me especially after I published and shared an article on top tips for managing being stay-at-home working parents, something my husband and I do in equal measure since the birth of our first child three years ago.

For some women, it is the right decision to stay at home and raise their children full time and I very firmly believe in each woman’s right to choose. And single mothers (and fathers) obviously may not have this choice. But the only time I have seen the more traditional structure work well is when the woman has a strong sense of who she is, there is a deep and abiding mutual respect for each other’s roles and a clear, unquestionable understanding that the income that comes into the family is most definitely shared 50/50.

In so many ways, the current situation is really inviting us to rethink the paradigms that have defined our world until now and I really believe there is such an opportunity — and a need — for us to ‘reboot the world’ and rethink everything in…