Mark Zuckerberg is famous as the founder and CEO of Facebook, even the man in charge of the most powerful social network in the world is just known as “dad” to his kids.
“Having kids does change how you think about the world in a pretty dramatic way,” Zuckerberg told students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Yahoo reported.
Zuckerberg’s first child, Maxima, was born in November 2015, and he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, recently announced they are expecting their second daughter later this year.
“I used to have meetings that ran really late,” Zuckerberg said. “But now, I make sure that three times a week, I’m home to give [Maxima] a bath.”
Any parent will tell you that they wish they could find the right balance between work and life, but sometimes that perfect harmony can be harder to achieve for dads — 93 percent of them work outside of the home. Care.com found that 64 percent of fathers still feel like their company and colleagues treat working moms and dads differently.
“For too long, we’ve discussed work-family integration as a woman’s issue,” Scott Behson, PhD, professor of management at Fairleigh Dickinson University and author of The Working Dad’s Survival Guide, told Care.com’s Care For Business blog. “The fact is the vast majority of fathers care very much about their careers and are also putting in the work to be hands-on, highly involved dads.”
Zuckerberg’s new role as a father has apparently had a real effect on how he runs Facebook. Weeks after Zuckerberg’s daughter was born in 2015, the $400 billion company announced they would extend and expand their parental leave policies for full-time employees, offering four months of paid baby leave for new parents. The company also allocated specific parking spots at its headquarters for expecting mothers.
Our Care For Business blog found that “95 percent of working dads said they should have fully paid paternity leave, with the majority indicating they’d want four weeks.” Nearly half of working fathers said they’re looking for their employers to do more to support working parents.
Zuckerberg is leading the trend when it comes to dads in the workplace, and he’s even made our list of pop culture role models for dads. Maybe fathers like Zuckerberg can make life easier for fathers in the 21st century — who are typically sharing household chores, caring for their children, earning a paycheck, all while seeking that sweet spot of juggling babies and business.
“The thing that I’m most proud of,” Zuckerberg said,”and the thing that brings me the most happiness, is my family.”
It’s clear that most dads would agree with Zuckerberg. Hopefully this conversation will continue to open more opportunities for working fathers.