It is not just female liberation but a shift in the male psyche as well that transforms family life. This should be no surprise, since men are now made much more responsible in relation to contraception, in the decision to have children, in meeting their partners' career aspirations and in caring for their children once they are born. Men are wanting to be parents, not just money- earners. Over 80 per cent of ex-nuptial births now have acknowledged paternity. The majority of Australian couples now have shared bank accounts.
Men are now almost as likely as women to take sick leave for family-related reasons.
The point is not that all men have changed. They haven't, and we have documented evidence of continuing inequalities of opportunity, task- sharing, providing for children after separation and divorce. The point is rather that lots of men have changed and this augurs well for the future. Certainly the Institute's research over the past decade has flagged a decreasing gap between men expressing the 'correct' values about equality in marriage and their actual behaviour. They may still be in paid work for longer hours, but more and more men are accepting a new regime, a regime centred around the dilemmas of parenting in an unresponsive society.