London, Nov 19: Having a full time stay-at-home dad may be a good thing for girls, but the same certainly cannot be said for boys, a new study reveals.

The study was carried out by researchers at Bristol University, examined the lives of children from 6,000 families living with both their natural parents.

Financed by the Government's Economic and Social Research Council, the study found that male children, who are looked after their dads are slower and less ready for education when they start school than those who had less paternal contact.

The results showed that kids are affected when the traditional gender roles are reversed.

"We should not simply assume that children will be unaffected by the dismantling of traditional gender roles but consider their needs, as well as those of their parents," the Daily Mail quoted lead author Elizabeth Washbrook, of Bristol University, as saying.

"I find robust evidence that boys - but not girls - who spent at least 15 hours a week in paternal care when they were toddlers performed worse on academic assessments when they started school.

"This cannot be explained by the economic or psychological characteristics of parents in these families, nor by the characteristics of the child."

The study also suggested a series of reasons why it would be better that moms looked after the kids rather than dad. These reasons included biological and cultural ones.

It stated that moms would be better for the task of raising the kids as they are more confident and more skilled at it, and that there might be "harmful emotional effects" from the absence of a mother.

"These effects may be magnified if maternal absence is due to employment that increases tiredness and stress, and hence reduces a mother's sensitivity to a child's needs," the study stated.

The study also shows that most modern moms are so busy juggling work and home that they hardly get two hours to themselves each week.

Added to this is the guilt that their kids are not getting enough outdoor time as they are afraid that to let them play outside without supervision.

Another thing that is making women feel more inadequate are shows such as ‘Supernanny’.

Patricia Carswell, a "life coach" for mothers, said: "There are huge expectations on mothers today to provide a mythical perfect childhood. They feel overwhelmed."

"There is a whole TV industry based on the proposition that parents are basically incompetent and it doesn't help." (ANI)