Stay-at-home dad

A stay-at-home dad is a term used to describe a male parent who is the main caregiver of the children and the home. Alternative terms include stay at home father, househusband or homemaker.

Background

Traditional gender roles in Western civilization usually see the private parenting responsibilities go to the mother orhousewife, while the public social parenting responsibilities are carried out by the father.

There are two mainly different circumstances contributing to a stay-at-home dad arrangement:

1)Married fathers - Social considerations: For a stay-at-home dad, those private child-rearing duties that are usually assigned to the mother then become the duties of the father, while at the same time the public duties remain his responsibility. While the father takes on more of the private duties of the childrearing tasks, like making sure the kids are fed and warm, their protection from harm, homework help, etc., the bulk of the houselhold chores exceopt for cooking are usually left for the mother to do when she returns home from work.

Economic considerations: Usually in this arrangement the mother can make a higher income than the father, or the father is typically at home from an injury or is on disability, so money is saved by avoiding the usual day care or babysitter and housekeeper expenses. In this arrangement, the male stays at home while the female carries the burden of bringing in the family income from outside or self-employment. 2)Single fathers

Increased divorce rates have also resulted in many more split families, and some fathers are choosing to or out of necessity have no choice but to be the main caregiver rather than the mother.Fact|date=August 2007 Some mothers desire to be free of the stigma and burden of taking care of their children after a divorce or separation and choose to allow the father to take primary custody of their children so that they can gain upward social mobility by being more available to their employer or their customers.

As recently as 25 years ago, such an arrangement with the father staying at home was uncommon in many parts of the world, with fathers having less contact with their children than mothers, privately. As the movement towards social acceptability in regards to males staying at home, the prevalence of stay-at-home dads is increasing and attitudes are changing.

Mother's role in household

In families with a stay-at-home father, the mother may have a full time job and share the child rearing with the father, who may also be a working parent. The mother may have a professional occupation as can the father. Household tasks are shared more than "traditional" Western roles might prescribe. Despite this history, stay at home fathers are becoming more widespread in much of the world.

In these arrangements, the father will share the household chores (cooking, cleaning, and laundry) and childrearing with the mother.

In fiction

Mr. Mom

The Michael Keaton movie "Mr. Mom" (1983) features one of the more famous portrayals of a stay-at-home dad. Many stay-at-home dads dislike being labeled "Mr. Mom" because of bumbling aspect of the father in the movie and the feeling that stay-at-home dads are trying to be mothers rather than fathers. Many feel that their contributions are as fathers and that is just as important to children, but distinct from mothers' contributions.

A 2004 country song entitled "Mr. Mom" was released by the group, Lonestar.

"Diary of a Hapless Househusband" novel

Published in the United Kingdom in August 2007, the "Diary of a Hapless Househusband" by Sam Holden is a comic account of the trials of a stay-at-home dad. It has been described by Allison Pearson as 'a very very funny and often touching account of one man's struggle to run Planet Home'. However, much like 'Mr Mom', some of the humour comes from the house-husband being inept and uncommitted to the role, a stereotype some stay-at-home dads may find out-dated. Also, the use of the word "househusband" is considered a tautology by some grammarians, because house comes from "OE: hus", which is one of the same Germanic elements from which "husband" derives. Therefore, "househusband" analyzes as "Gmc: *hus-hus-bond(i)", making it redundant.

"At Home Dad"

"At Home Dad" is a Japanese terebi dorama, or sitcom, that tells the story of the Yamamuras, a typical white collar Japanese family. The family moves into their new house next door to a family in which the husband stays home and takes care of the child and house. Shortly thereafter, Yamamura Kazuyuki, played by Hiroshi Abe, loses his job as a CM director of a major marketing firm and finds himself taking lessons from his neighbor on how to be a stay at home dad. This is a very funny and touching comedy that spans one series (12 episodes). This series is particularly interesting because of the social class structure and gender roles in Japan.

tatistics

64.3 million - number of U.S. fathers

159,000 - number of stay-at-home dads in 2006

2.9 million - number of preschoolers cared for by their dads while mom is at work.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

ee also

*Double burden
*Father
*Father's rights
*Homemaker
*Masculism
*Paternal bond
*Parental leave
*Paternity leave
*Sociology of fatherhood

References

External links

* [http://www.athomedad.org AtHomeDad.org - Community and resources for involved dads]
* [http://www.rebeldad.com Rebeldad.com - The stay-at-home dad revolution online]
* [http://www.athomedad.com Athomedad.com - The At-Home Dad Network]
* [http://www.menathome.com.au Men @ Home - An Australian site for stay at home Dads]
* [http://web.mac.com/david.vernon/iWeb/The%20Canberra%20Journal/The%20Scribbles/262AC8CF-AFEB-4CE0-A87A-AF04B259775D.html "Is staying at home ruining my career?" David Vernon , 2007 Reprint of article that appeared in "Sunday Life Magazine" entitled "Man about the House", 31 January 2007.]
* [http://www.daddystayshome.com The Stay/Work at Home Dad's Resource]
* [http://groups.google.com/group/stay-at-home-dads-in-france Stay at home Dads in France]
* [http://www.homedad.org.uk/ HomeDad.org.uk - UK Homedading resources]
* [http://blogs.lifestyle.aol.ca/bloggers/david-eddie/ Mack Daddy, Stay at home Dad blog]