women, reinforcing the cultural expectation that it is women's responsibility to be well

versed in parenting skills, not men's. One need only watch a few minutes of television to

see women cooking for their children, bandaging children's scraped knees, and

laundering children's muddy clothes; while gradually increasing in frequency, similar

media images still rarely exist for fathers. Fathers are often portrayed as going to or

coming from work, as if providing financially for one's family is the primary

responsibility of fatherhood. Walzer (1996) also observed that mothers perceive others in

society judging them on how good of mothers they are, while their male partners do not

receive such scrutiny.

 Other societal factors and institutional barriers also contribute to highly gendered

parenthood roles. Although mothers are entering the workforce at record rates, less than

half of married mothers are employed full-time in the labor force, while approximately

19% are employed part-time and one third do not work outside the home (United States

Department of Labor, 2005c). For married mothers with a child under three years of age,

approximately 35% are employed full-time, 17% are employed part-time, and 47% do not

work outside the home (United States Department of Labor, 2005b). Labor force

participation rates of mothers with infants under age one has declined 3% since its most

recent peak in 2002 (United States Department of Labor, 2005a). Many employers

require long hours or inflexible schedules which can create significant barriers for

working parents (Ferree, 1990). Because mothers tend to be held responsible for child

care and because they receive less pay for their work, they are often "pushed out" of full-

time employment (Cowan & Cowan, 2000; Risman, 1998). Quality child care can be