Balancing career and family life is a serious concern for working fathers, a survey released on Monday by the online job bank yes123 showed.
The survey of 1,176 fathers found that 40 percent felt alienated from their children, due in large part to the demands of their jobs.
The respondents worked an average of 10 hours a day, leaving them only 69.3 minutes to spend with their children on weekdays, the poll found.
About three-quarters, or 74.7 percent, of respondents said they worked more than nine hours per day, and 21.3 percent said they worked more than 12 hours per day, it found.
The poll showed that 92.3 percent of respondents thought about changing jobs for their children, while 73.7 percent said their performance at work was at least once affected by family factors.
A majority of the respondents said they are under pressure from family and work, with 94 percent reporting feeling a considerable amount of stress. Of those, about 70 percent described the stress as bearable, while the remaining 30 percent said it was too much.
Yes123 spokesman Yang Tsung-bin (楊宗斌) said that the government and companies should strive to create a friendlier environment for working fathers and provide them job training.
Those measures, in addition to financial assistance and other benefits, could help working fathers feel less stressed and anxious, which might make couples more willing to have children and help reverse the nation’s falling birthrate, Yang said.
The survey was conducted from July 3 to July 18 and has a margin of error of 2.86 percentage points.
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