The Facts Surrounding Stay-at-Home Dads
Role Reversal in the 21st Century
There are roughly around 200,000 men in the UK that stay at home to be their families' primary care giver. Hilary Pereira, a writer addressing the topic of stay-at-home dads, identifies that in 2001 the figure was around 155,000 (ivillage.co.uk). This shows a gradual increase in the number of men that are opting to stay at home to look after their children, as well as holistically provide for their family.
Statistics
In May 2008, Steve Doughty reported in the Mail that the number of stay-home mothers dropped by 25% over 15 years, and as the government has encouraged more mothers to return to work sooner after child birth, there has been a noticeable decrease. If more mothers are returning to work then this leaves only a few other forums that can provide child care. These include sharing responsibility between parents (resulting in both parents working fewer hours individually), dads staying home and taking on the primary care givers role (which may be dependent on who has a higher earning potential), conventional/ formal child care, and using the extended family (grandparents and other close relatives).
Sarah Womack, a Social Affairs Correspondent, reported in the Telegraph (April 2008) that roughly 1 in 10 mothers stay home full time, which equates to around 13.4 million women of all ages (the highest number ever recorded) being in employment of all descriptions, with 55% of those being in full time work. As a result more men are both willingly and forced to support their working partners by taking on the responsibility of staying at home to look after their children and home. However this support varies from sharing the responsibility to taking it up on a full time basis.
Social Stigma
When given these facts, a lot of people seem surprised that more men are actively taking up this role. Traditionally, stay-at-home parenting has been associated with women, and has had a maternal slant to it. However, there is no surprise that men are sharing the role with their female partners, based on the fact that not only has the number of women in employment risen, but the social stigma in relation to men providing child care has also shifted.
In today’s ever changing society, what may have previously been considered as traditional family dynamics is continuingly evolving. In same sex relationships, there may be two men of the same sex bringing up children. If this is the case, there will always be at least one male primary care giver, and this will also have an impact on statistics (the same applies to two women raising children).
Shared Responsibility
Although due to a number of reasons it is difficult to have exact numbers/ statistics, one thing for certain is that times are changing, and more women are re-entering the workforce after giving birth. Furthermore, there has also been a governmental push for women to return to work at a faster rate than they have been previously after child birth (Steve Doughty, the Mail, 2008). However if more women are returning to work, this ultimately means that other arrangements have to be made in relation to child care. One of the ways is to role reverse away from the traditional stance of women being the stay-home parent.
Statistics show that more men are staying home to care for their children, and there has been a noticeable rise over a number of years (Hilary Pereira, 2007). Furthermore, in today’s uncertain economy, families have to proactively plan ahead and consider who in the family has the highest earning potential. In some instances the highest earning potential will lies with women, and instead of placing children into full-time day care, more men are opting to become stay-at-home parents.
