Sadly, much of the US economy is built around workers who have someone else who takes care of the family and the personal life. I recently read about a man who asked HR for some help navigating the fact that his wife was dying. They told him to do his job same as usual or he could take unpaid leave. When he opted to work, they found ways to marginalize him and eventually forced him out. American workers are largely seen as cogs in a wheel, and even though most women work at least part time these days, those old 1950s expectations are still in effect. We are THE only industrialized nation with no parental leave policy, and that does lead to women having to choose between their careers and their families, in a way that for the most part, men don't.