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This year’s Father’s Day marked a shift in fatherhood. In this economy, more men are unemployed than women, and the number of stay-at-home dads is growing.
Many outlets are reporting that the Census Bureau says fathers are the primary caregivers for about 25 percent of the nation’s preschoolers whose mothers work, and the bureau estimated last year that there are about 160,000 stay-at-home dads in the U.S. But NPR consulted a professor who says dads don’t always accurately report their roles, so the number is actually much higher.
“...he says, there are about 2 million at-home dads. That number has also likely risen during the recession because about 70 percent of the lost jobs affected men.”
On CBS’ San Francisco affiliate, KPIX, author Jeremy Adam Smith talked about what he learned while writing his new book, "The Daddy Shift".
JEREMY ADAM SMITH: “Fatherhood used to be defined as pure breadwinning. Now it’s grown to encompass a capacity for caregiving as well, and that’s very important to a lot of families in the same way that women going to work and women’s rise in ecomomic power has also become very important to families and made them more resilient. ... What we’re seeing here is a long-term realignment in the division of labor in the home.”
But will society accept these so-called Mr. Moms? Listen to the audience’s response when Stephen Colbert The Atlantic Monthly’s cover story, “The End of Men,” an article that examines women’s rise in the job market.
STEPHEN COLBERT: “How about this: what about you have to hire men for your child care?”
HANNA ROSIN: “You know there are....”
STEPHEN COLBERT: “Why is that laughable? Why is that laughable? Why would you not leave your infant alone with an unemployed man?”
The Today Show interviewed filmmaker Dana Glazer, who made a documentary about stay-at-home dads. Glazer admitted that, at first, staying at home made him feel like less of a man.
DANA GLAZER: “I think that there’s more of an acceptance of this now and it’ll be increasingly so as time goes on.”
HODA KOTB: “There’s still a stigma.”
GLAZER: “Absolutely there’s still a stigma.”
KATHIE LEE GIFFORD: “If a woman is very successful, and the man is staying at home with the children. I think it exists, I think it’s wrong.”
CNN says that even with the changing times, culture still stereotypes about gender roles.
“...some men are leaving the work force by choice. ... But a father being at home more... can be a hard thing for the man as well as the outside world to accept.”
But CBS found a group of empowered stay-at-home dads who meet for play dates with their kids, and relish the opportunity to watch their children grow up.
WHIT JOHNSON: “A house full of men feeding babies and playing with toddlers. Mark Bildner, father of two, hosts the group.”
MARK BILDNER: “Good to know there are other guys out there who are doing it.”
JOHNSON: “For some of these dads, the choice to stay home was economic, for others, it was an opportunity to spend time with their kids.”
What do you think of the growing trend of stay-at-home dads? Will this transform how children are raised? Will societal perceptions ever change?
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WRITER: Lauren Zima
PRODUCER: Newsy Staff
