And so we have yet another study documenting how young children suffer when Mommy works long hours outside the home. Except -- oops -- it's not Mommy's work that's hurting the kids. It's Daddy's! According to the Guardian, a British study looking at some 19,000 children born in 2000 and 2001 found that "emotional and behavioural problems were more common by the time youngsters reached the age of three if their fathers had not taken time off work when they were born, or had not used flexible working to have a more positive role in their upbringing." Let me be clear: I've not seen this study and I cannot vouch for its academic merit. On the other hand, intellectual merit never seems to make a difference when somebody publishes a study trying to argue women who work neglect their children. So, like Jessica at Feministing, I eagerly await the slew of articles about all the derelict fathers out there -- and what public policy should be doing to get them more time at home. Actually, I shouldn't be saracastic. In fact, this would be a good time to mention that the Family and Medical Leave Act could use strengthening -- and that the pressure working parents feel would seem to present a good opportunty for Democrats as they continue to define their agenda for the next presidential campaign. But more on that some other time... --Jonathan Cohn