Those seeking signs women and men may be approaching equality should consider the rash of high-power women with stay-at-home husbands. For the career-minded, a supportive spouse can make all the difference, as Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift shows. These days, Swift cuts quite a figure.
At seven months pregnant, with a toddler at home and a loving marriage, she seems the epitome of the woman with everything. A driven career woman, she has been working in big-time politics since 1991, when she was elected state senator, the youngest ever in Massachusetts. Her most recent career move, from lieutenant governor to governor, comes due to Governor Paul Cellucci's decision to accept the Canadian ambassadorship.
Swift's impending labor and delivery has many in Massachusetts worrying over her fitness as chief executive of the state. Caring for newborn twins and a toddler is hard work, and could consume time some would insist should be spent on affairs of the state. But Massachusetts need not worry, for Governor Swift's husband will be on the job, just as he has been since their daughter was small. His job is to stay at home.
It is, after all, much easier for a governor to work late and work hard when she doesn't have to worry about daycare or making dinner. This is just the kind of setup that many parents would prefer. In a survey last year by Public Agenda, 62 percent of surveyed parents with children under five years of age said they wished public policy would stop focusing on subsidizing child care and start exploring ways of making it easier for one parent to stay at home.
Once upon a time, it would have been the mother that stayed home. It was just the way things were. Today's standards give more choices to husbands and wives, making it possible for men to feel comfortable taking on the traditionally-female caretaker role. The Swift family and others like them are to be commended for the barrier breaking they demonstrate so well. It is marvelous to see more women in positions of power, and while no one would doubt the abilities of women to be supermom, it's good to know that men can fill that role, too.
More families might take the same plunge but for financial reasons. Too often, the money lost when one spouse stays at home is enough to bankrupt a family. Only those families with one spouse solvent enough to support all can make this choice so freely.
Equality means having choices. While women once yearned to escape the drudgery of being a housewife, they hardly meant to get themselves into a situation where being a housewife was impossible. Governor Swift and her family have the resources to make this choice, but how is it that what used to be commonplace is now a luxury?
It's time to examine the reasons why more parents can't make this choice. A simple and clear culprit is the rising financial strain of taxes. When more money goes to the government, less money goes to the needs of the family. This amount could be the difference between daycare and days at home with daddy. Or it could be the difference between the Swift family and yours.
