Dare to Care, the campaign group, was the first to add to the post-Christmas blues by declaring that two-thirds of Britons feel fat, flabby, fed-up.

Next up was TV channel DMAX who claimed that not only would nine out 10 men prefer a more traditional macho role in society, but more than half feel undervalued.

And there was more. According to a study based on a sample of more than 40,000 workers, it seems gender inequality is alive and well.

But forget about the usual reports about women being paid less than men for doing the same job, or the continued presence of a glass ceiling, because it's men who are feeling the strain.

Apparently, men worry much more about their work-life balance than women and are also more troubled by a host of other things in the workplace, including the need to feel in control, and having too much work to do.

Given this turn of events, it would be understandable if Valerie Bryson was now feeling like something of a lone voice.

While the rest of us might feel moved to put a comforting arm round our nearest male and clearly stressed-out colleague, the professor of politics at the University of Huddersfield has dared to come to the conclusion that "what women do with their time tends to be valued less than what men do with theirs".

It's the kind of statement which sounds, on paper, to have come from a long-gone age of inequality, but Prof Bryson, who has now published her findings in Gender and the Politics of Time, insists that it is as true in the 21st century as it was when Germaine Greer first emerged as a figurehead for the feminist movement.

"What women do with their time tends to be valued less than what men do with theirs," she says. "The current rhetoric from the Government is that the primary obligation of a citizen is to be in paid employment, which implies that someone – usually a woman – who is spending time at home caring for others, is not contributing to society.

"To disregard the caring definition of citizenship is to discount what women do and is synonymous with saying it's of no real importance. Most caring is done in the home, which means there are no time boundaries – it's done when it's needed, and women often find themselves having no real free time to themselves.

"Men, on the other hand, are able to have their free time in usable blocks, concentrating on one activity at a time."

Perhaps, understandably, Bryson's view is not one to which everyone subscribes, but her aim is to give a voice to those who are routinely overlooked and feel they have little choice but to stay at home and be full-time carers.

"The caring that women do in the home is partly practical care and partly emotional care," she says.

"By looking after children and the family and taking care of housework, women allow men to be independent, work long hours and bring home a large salary, often sacrificing their own careers and free time.

"There is still a big gap between genders in terms of earnings, and often women drop out of the labour market altogether when they have children, which leads to a devaluing of what women do in the home and takes them yet further away from the standards set for men by men.

"The work women do often gets overlooked by men because it's invisible and many women do it without complaining. Because men benefit from the current system and many are unaware of the huge imbalance between men's time and women's time, it's not really in their interest to do anything about it."

Prof Bryson insists that her book isn't the result of some anti-male tirade, but watching a society where both men and women aren't able to live the lives they want.

"I think both men and women generally support the idea of men doing more in the home, but without specific legislation, the situation simply isn't going to change," she says.

"In Scandinavia, for example, some carers do qualify for payment by the state.

"Some have claimed that this kind of approach only forces more women out of the workplace, but we do need to find a way to ensure this section of society isn't economically dependent on their spouse or partner.

"The basic argument has always been that women are allowed to have equality if they are able to be like men. What women are now saying is that men need to change."