Obama: Men need to be 'knocked across the head' when it comes to sharing family duties

Barack Obama has announced that men 'need to be knocked across the head' to see the imbalance between how much work fathers and mothers put into raising children.

The U.S. president said he knew it was not fair for his wife Michelle to have to 'make sacrifices' all the time.

But he admitted that, even so, he has not managed to achieve equality in his own home.

Sharing the burden: Left to right, President Barack Obama, daughter Sasha Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and daughter Malia Obama come home from church earlier this month

The president was also forced to defend a game of basketball he played with members of his Cabinet recently after no women were involved, slamming criticisms as 'bunk'.

Speaking in a television interview last night, Mr Obama admitted: 'There's no doubt that our family, like a lot of families out there, were ones in which the men are still a little obtuse about this stuff.

He acknowledged things are different now for his wife, Michelle, and him given that they live in the White House with all its creature comforts and army of residence staff.

'Today's Obama family is obviously not typical,' he said.

However he quickly added: 'Five years ago, six years ago, though, we were having a lot of negotiations.

Because Michelle was trying to figure out, OK, if the kids get sick why is it that she's the one who has to take time off of her job to go pick them up from school, as opposed to me? If, you know, the girls need to shop for clothes.

'You know, why is it that it's her burden and not mine.'

The president said he tried to learn to be better - 'to be thoughtful enough and introspective enough that I wasn't always having to be told that things were unfair.

'That once in a while, I'd actually voluntarily say, 'You know what? Let me relieve this burden on you. Let me make some sacrifices, in terms of how I'm using my time.''

He did not succeed, he admitted.

'The truth is that Michelle still had to make sacrifices of the sort that I did not have to make,' he said.

Mr Obama also played down a recent basketball game with male members of his Cabinet and lawmakers.

No women took part in the game, played on a White House court.

The president said it was a standing game among House members that simply relocated to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

He faced criticism for the all-guys game; but brushed it off and said it was nothing more than basketball.