New Dads Just Want to Have Fun.

• Position: HOUSEHOLD CHORES

Exactly what are dads doing while moms are taking care of housework or tending to their child? The results will be disappointing for those who expected more gender equity in modern society. A study published in the journal Sex Roles found that, three months after the birth of their first child, on days when couples were not at their jobs, men most often were relaxing while women did housework or childcare. However, when men were taking care of the kids or working around the house, their partners most often were doing the same thing.

One telling statistic: women spent 46 to 49 minutes relaxing while men did child care or housework on their day off, but men spent about 101 minutes in leisure while their partners did some kind of work.

On workdays after the baby was born, the amount of time women and men spent doing housework and child care was more equal than on nonworkdays, although women still did slightly more work, the results showed. However, men made up for it on nonworkdays, when the amount of time they spent in leisure activities more than doubled--from 47 to 101 minutes--between when their partner was pregnant and three months after the birth.

"On workdays, parents are more evenly splitting housework and childcare," notes coauthor Jill Yavorsky. "It's very much 'all hands on deck' but, when there...