For Dads In The Pandemic: Lows, Highs And Constant Uncertainty
Zachary Austrew is still trying to come to terms with what it means to be the sole breadwinner in his household.
"We're not that family where I go to work, and she stays home and cleans the house, and I expect dinner when I return," he says. "That's not how we operate."
And yet, with two young children stuck at home and Austrew's project management job deemed essential, they more or less are â for now. This summer, his wife Ashley quit her full-time job in marketing and is now homeschooling the kids.
"She was a homemaker almost immediately, and I was outside of the house," he says. "I definitely felt some guilt."
Many men are facing in droves recently. The number of women on U.S. payrolls for a brief period of three months through February this year. No longer.
