Bijdrage aan discussie Arbeid en Zorg

David Coster (40 jaar, man), schreef:

I am a father of one (shortly a father of two) and have recently made the decision to decrease my work week from 5 to 4 days. This decision was unfortunately not greeted with much enthusiasm from my 'werkgever' however I was able to force the issue and am now one of two 'part-time' male employees in a company of nearly 250 men. I feel that the move to the four day week, with my Wednesday reserved for caring for my daughter, has been a stimulation for both my home environment and my work environment. This situation is also well accepted by my work colleagues and we are easily able to plan our mutual work weeks around my new work situation. The only problem is indeed that further career opportunities seem to be ruled out by my employer. This is unfortunate as I feel that I have still a lot to offer; my creativity and enthusiasm are still running at 100% and I feel that I have a good balance between work and personal responsibilities. Hopefully, the vision of employers in this question will change as more and more male 'pioneers' opt for the choice of a combination of care and work. We only live once and it is a shame if work pressures and conservative opinions rob us of the opportunities to be fathers to our children.

(donderdag 12 Juni 1997 om 11:08 uur )