Women found themselves with two careers instead of only one. In the past 20 years, however, the sharp difference in family roles has blurred. More and more working husbands are now sharing home responsibilities that once were shouldered mostly by their working wives. That's what a new study by the Families and Work Institute found in comparing the division of labor of working couples in 1997 with the pattern that U.S. Department of Labor research disclosed for 1977. Twenty years ago, on days when both worked outside the home, a typical husband devoted only three hours to household duties for every 10 hours spent by his working wife.
Gap is the key word.
I first heard that expression in a sociology class at the University of Chicago more than 30 years ago. The failure of working husbands to adapt to the reality of working wives is just one example. Not surprisingly, cultural lags flourish in the era of globalization. No gap is more crucial than the failure to adjust attitudes and behavior to how a fast-changing global economy impacts ordinary working men and women. Yes, but they're catching up.