One house, one couple, and an equal distribution of the burden Israel today

International Women's Day provokes a variety of discussions and encourages campaigns.

But despite the attempt to highlight the positive trend, when it comes to reducing the gaps and the status of women - there is still a long way to go.

Alongside professional advancement, there is an unresolved tension between women’s careers and family management, and we are still stepping in place when it comes to traditional home-related roles.

The global epidemic has exacerbated this reality, and studies show that the status of women in the world has deteriorated, and that many achievements in the fields of pay and professional advancement have been erased.

In Israel 2022, home and family management and operation are still, primarily, the concern of women.

The professional name is Mental Load, and it is a mental load that is not evenly distributed, which in most cases hurts women who add to the load of career management also the variety of transparent tasks of home management.

This makes it difficult to function and make decisions, along with feelings of frustration associated with assessing their abilities, high self-criticism and even depression.

Amendments concerning the advancement of women in the workplace are insufficient.

It is impossible to transfer all the weight to the career areas without taking into account the price of the load, and if both spouses do not enter the picture and are partners in the change - we will not be able to achieve the desired success rates.

Getting into the picture is not about "pardoning her career", or picking up the kids twice a week because she has long days at work.

On the face of it, this sounds egalitarian, but if the mental burden of the organization and the tasks remains only on one side - we have not really made progress.

A real division in the mental burden means a substantial and deep entry into the daily life of raising children and household chores.

Such a division can be expressed in lots of simple, almost transparent steps for many of the couple - membership in the WhatsApp group of both parents (and possibly only the father!), Taking responsibility for current issues in the children's lives, the father's membership in the parent committee, and more.

Sharing the mental burden means mastering the entire weekly schedule - including transportation to classes and keeping in touch with all the other parents, which helps to survive the week's tasks. Meir Shalev on "Daddy Shames", which surprised with a winning cake.There are many men today who are involved and present no less than their wives, but in the overall picture - they are still not a majority.

So Dad, International Women's Day is yours just as it is ours.

Not only as an employer who wants to increase the percentage of women in his business, but as a true partner, who in his actions also teaches his daughters and sons new models of burden sharing - physical, and especially mental - to lead us all to a future of unstoppable success and achievement.

Gender equality is one of the issues that most concern Generation Z, so here's a great opportunity to fulfill their expectations of us.

Maybe it will even open up another channel of communication with them, in a topical discourse that meets the values ​​they formulate throughout their youth.

The author is the CEO of the "Equal" Association

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