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As the American family changes, fatherhood is changing in important and sometimes surprising ways.
Today, fathers who live with their children are taking a more active role in caring for them and helping out around the house. And the ranks of stay-at-home fathers and single fathers have grown significantly in recent decades.
At the same time, more and more children are growing up without a father in the home.
The changing role of fathers has introduced new challenges, as dads juggle the competing demands of family and work. Here are some key findings about fathers from Pew Research Center reports.
1. Fewer dads are their family’s sole breadwinner. Among married couples with children under age 18, dual-income households are now the dominant arrangement (60%).
In 1960, only one-in-four of these households had two incomes; 70% had a father who worked and a mother who was at home with the kids.
The public has mixed views about these changes. Most (62%) say that a marriage where the husband and wife both have jobs and both take care of the house and children is preferable to one where the husband works and the wife takes care of the home and family (30%).
At the same time, a majority (74%) says having more women in the workplace makes it harder for parents to raise children.
2. Dads’ and moms’ roles are converging. As the share of dual-income households has risen, the roles of mothers and fathers have begun to converge.
In 1965, fathers’ time was heavily concentrated in paid work, while mothers spent more of their time on housework or childcare. Over the years, fathers have taken on more housework and child care duties—they’ve more than doubled time spent doing household chores and nearly tripled time spent with children since 1965.
Meanwhile, women have increased their time spent doing paid work. Significant gaps remain, but there is clearly a more equal distribution of labor between mothers and fathers these days. Continue reading
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