We asked the dads running for president what they do for child care

[demmiblue]

Child care is often framed as women’s responsibility. We asked men instead.

Beto O’Rourke came in for widespread criticism in March when he said that his wife Amy was raising their three children, “sometimes with my help,” while he ran for president.

He later apologized, but the comment exposed a deeper reality: While male candidates can often count on a partner to take the lead on child care while they campaign, women rarely can do the same.

That may be part of the reason fewer women run for office than men, or why they may wait until their children are grown before running. Of the more than 20 Democratic candidates running for president in 2020, Vox counted nine men with children below high school age, and just one woman, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

When mothers do seek high-profile jobs, whether in government or in the private sector, they’re often asked how they balance work and family. As NBC 10 reporter Alison King put it in an April interview with presidential candidate Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), “If you were a woman, the first question I would be asking you is, how are you going to juggle having an infant at home and a presidential campaign?”

But asking only women that question perpetuates the idea that child care is women’s responsibility, something for them to figure out without the men in their lives. So Vox decided instead to ask all the male 2020 Democratic candidates with young children at home to describe their child care arrangements — who was caring for their kids, we asked, when they were off campaigning?

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/5/22/18633044/2020-election-democrats-child-care-kids-men?utm_campaign=vox.social&utm_medium=social&utm_source=sprout&utm_content=1558531734

[DesertRat]

1. Thank you for this article

I enjoyed reading all of their responses.

[Ohiogal]

2. Not surprisingly

It’s “My amazing wife handles everything”. Aren’t these guys lucky.