Mothers with young children are less productive than non-mothers in law firms, but fathers are more productive than childless male attorneys, according to a Canadian study recently cited by the Wall Street Journal.

The article went on to say that children clearly had a negative impact on women’s productivity and that family-friendly workplace policies are more beneficial to men. The interpretation of these studies could not be more wrong.

As many readers pointed out in the comments thread, the reporter equated the number of billable hours to productivity -- not the actual outcome of those hours.

Just because someone bills more hours does not necessarily make him (or her) more “productive.” In my office, for example, one male associate has taken twice as long to do a nearly identical task already completed by a female associate in half the time.

The other component this study excluded was how many of these fathers had stay-at-home wives, giving them an edge on their childless counterparts.

I can see how they’d be able to bill more than childless men, due to the division of labor.

Or maybe fathers just want to get away from the crying and screaming and therefore bill more. One man’s hell is another man’s sanctuary.

Finally, the study sampled only 670 lawyers in Alberta, Canada. Some readers called for a larger sample size and more geographic diversity. Nonetheless, I agree with the premise that the number of hours you bill doesn’t necessarily make you a more productive employee.