The Changing Role of Fathers by Corie Champion

     I was recently watching the reality TV show “Wife Swap” and something really interesting stuck out to me, the changing roles of fathers in our society. In one of the families it showed something that I was not used to which was a “stay-at-home-DAD” (or SAHD). It made me think and I realized that now in our society more than ever there is an increasing number of men who stay at home with the kids while mom goes to work and is the bread winner. I find this kind of shocking because I always thought of it being the opposite, when in fact the number of SAHD’s is on the rise. According to statistics from the Census Bureau and careerbuilder.com, 37% of men consider themselves a SAHD which is almost 1 out of 3 dads.

I especially think these numbers are growing because of the recent downfall in the economy which has forced many moms to go out and get jobs as a result of male earners getting laid-off. I think the role changes in men in our society is just another example if how much our society is changing. In the 50’s and 60’s, it was the norm for females to stay at home with the children and be homemakers while the men went to work earning the income, but nowadays it is become more and more accepted that men stay at home and be homemakers while women earn the money. This is so much the norm now that there are even websites out there that discuss this upcoming “trend” such as rebeldad.com and discussion blogs specifically for SAHDs where dads can blog about their day as a caretaker and homemaker. Overall, I think this topic is really interesting and just goes to show how much our society is changing!

3 Responses to “The Changing Role of Fathers by Corie Champion”

  1. student says:

    I am suprised that 37% of men consider them selves, publicly, as “SHAD’s.” I would not be surprised if in a couple of years the number will get closer to 50%. With the increasing number of SHAD’s I wounder if t.v. shows will start to have more SHAD’s.

    By: Andrew Grillo

  2. student says:

    Having an increasing amount of fathers stay at home to take care of the household may have also resulted from the feminist movement. With women becoming involved in the workforce and holding high positions in companies, their salaries may have been higher than that of their husbands. It is more difficult to have two working members in the household than just one alone, thus the one having a larger salary should be the one continuing to work. This role reversal continues to add to the fact that women are equal to men and their societal standing.

    Francesca Guerra - FGCU - Intro to Sociology

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