Husband Earning 100 Million Won After Tax Working All Day... Responds "I Can't Do More" to Wife's Request for Childcare Sharing

Conflict Over Evening Leisure Time with Wife
Leaves for Work at 6 AM, Returns Home Only by 8 PM

A story about a man who is struggling with his wife, who wants him to participate more in housework and childcare while he is burdened with heavy work at his job, has sparked mixed reactions among netizens. Recently, a post titled "Should I help my wife?" by a man named A caught attention on an online community.

Office worker A had a very precious child through in vitro fertilization after four years of marriage. However, there was no one other than the couple to take care of the child. The wife’s parents are no longer alive, and A’s parents all live overseas, so since the child was born, the wife has been taking care of the baby alone without any help.

There are mixed reactions from netizens regarding a story about a man who, while struggling with heavy workloads at work, is experiencing conflict with his wife who wishes for him to participate more in housework and childcare.
[Photo by Seodongmin, Asia Economy]

A explained that he is overwhelmed just with his weekday work and cannot actively participate in childcare with his wife. A works at a foreign company and earns about 100 million KRW annually after tax. However, in return, he leaves for work at 6 a.m. and only returns home around 8 p.m. When A comes home from work, his wife prepares dinner, and while A eats, she feeds the baby baby food. After dinner, A bathes the child and feeds formula milk, while his wife does the dishes and cleans up. The conflict arises after this time. After finishing his preparations, A reads a book before going to sleep, and this reading time became the spark of the conflict.

The wife wants A to put the baby to sleep together instead of reading, but A explains that reading is the only time he has for himself during the day. A said, "My wife has free time after putting the baby to sleep, but this is the only time I have," and added, "I feel like I’m already helping enough by squeezing out time that I don’t have, so sometimes I get angry when my wife asks me to help more."

Netizens who read A’s story showed various reactions. Some commented, "Is this someone else’s baby?", "The rest time you cherish doesn’t exist at all for your wife," "If your own time was that important, you shouldn’t have had a child," and "Taking care of a baby all day is harder than working." On the other hand, others responded, "If you earn 100 million KRW and have to go to work the next day, shouldn’t you rest a bit?", "You work all day and can’t even rest for an hour?", "Work is just as hard as raising a child," and "If it were gaming, I’d just leave you alone, but since it’s reading, shouldn’t you be left completely alone?"