We talk about “working mothers” but not “working fathers”. Since fathers do more paid work than mothers on average, it would seem logical to talk about working fathers.
Is it because we think that somehow a “working mother” is unusual or different from some norm? But we are mistaken. Working mothers are as normal as working fathers. Mothers have worked for the whole of human history and to do so, they have needed to share the care of children with others. This is one of the foundations of the success of the human race – mothers have been able to help collect food, and so human families could have more babies and more of them survived. It is only very recently in history that families have become so wealthy that some mothers have been able not to work.
The modern problem is, perhaps, that working mothers and fathers often have to work away from home and away from their children. In human historical terms this is, of course, a pretty unusual arrangement. It means that work tears at the emotional bonds between us and our children. I remember having to drop our little ones off at a nursery once a week – leaving them there was like walking through treacle.
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