Executive Dads Yearn for Stay-at-Home Status
$100k+ Wage Earners Would Trade Board Room for Play Room According to Survey Conducted by TheLadders.com
NEW YORK (June 6, 2005) - If more executives had their way, every day would be Father's Day. Marking a shift in traditional gender roles, 62% of men in the country's top income bracket said they would put their careers on hold to become stay-at-home dads, according to a survey conducted by TheLadders.com, the world's leading $100k+ job search engine.
Yet a third of dads would pass up their kids' soccer goals for scoring points with industry big shots. When asked: Which would be more valuable to you: giving the keynote speech at a convention or attending your child's soccer match, 31% of executives said they'd rather give the keynote speech (see charts below).
The vast majority of executives responding to the survey shared the view that the demands of the office are at odds with the demands of family. When asked: Did you feel pressure to return to work after the birth of your child; a 67% majority said "yes." This sentiment was echoed in corporate policy towards paternity leave. When asked: How much time does your company allot for paternity leave; 45% said "none." Some companies have taken a more progressive approach to paternity leave: 18% of respondents said they were allotted up to 8 weeks of paternity leave and 12% were allotted 4 weeks (see charts below).
"Smart employers recognize that even their star employees are balancing all kinds of work/life issues," explained TheLadders.com President and CEO, Marc Cenedella. "To retain top talent, companies need to foster cultures that support both work-life and family-life."
TheLadders.com's look at fatherhood in the workplace is based on a series of four independent surveys of registered $100k+ executives conducted on TheLadders.com Web site between May 13, 2005 and June 5, 2005. The number of responses and margin of error for each survey is as follows:
Would you consider taking an extended leave to be a stay-at-home dad?
600 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 4%.
What would be more valuable to you: giving the keynote speech at a convention or attending your child's soccer match?
480 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 4.6%
Did you feel pressure to return to work after the birth of your child?
236 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 6.5%
How much time does your company allot for paternity leave?
332 Responses; Margin of Error: +/- 5.5%
Now reaching over 400,000 readers and featuring over 20,000 new $100k+ job listings each month, TheLadders.com is the largest online job search service catering exclusively to the $100k+ job market. Marc Cenedella founded TheLadders.com in July 2003 after a tenure as Senior Vice President, Finance & Operations, at HotJobs.com, ultimately shepherding that company's sale to Yahoo, Inc. (NASD: YHOO) in 2002.
Charts:
