There was a study conducted by Pew Research, and released in 2014 that give a few answers to the question “Why are dads staying home ?”.
Their Stay At Home Dad Statistics are here:
I’ve read some articles about stay at home dads recently. I generally avoid this because of the ignorant stigmas associated with those of us Dads who have chosen to raise our kids.
Some of the more ignorant posts seem to have the question Why? Then speak authoritatively in the most ignorant and cruel way, as to the reason they think Men are staying home. Spoiler but no shock to me: They are dead wrong.
I know why I’m home, but decided I’d look up some evidence as to the truth of why more Dads are staying home.
I’ve paraphrased the definition of a stay at home dad provided by Pew Research as: The number of fathers, who don’t work outside the home, who live with child(ren) younger than 18.
According to the study, there are essentially 2 million stay at home dads. This peaked in 2010 at 2.2 million.
Why are men at home?
According to Pew Research the top 2 reasons followed by a few other reasons are:
1. Unemployed/inability to find work.
Since 1989 unemployed fathers increased from 15% to 23%. This percentage was as high as 32% during the great recession by 2010. It’s not clear what percentage have returned to work.
The financial reality is we have a distorted economy that is increasingly mismanaged through government regulation and a fraudulent banking system. This leads to much mal-investment and economic booms and busts, otherwise known as the Austrian Business Cycle. During these booms and busts people lose their jobs. More men were affected by The Great Recession than women. Two industries where men dominate are manufacturing and construction. These industries were hit particularly hard. Many of the manufacturing jobs of course have moved overseas. It’s also more likely a woman will choose a career field traditionally filled by men than the other way around.
2. To care for the children.
Primary care giving has been the biggest reason for the increase of stay at home dads since 1989. Twenty one percent of at home dads are at home to be primary caregivers. In 1989 just 5% said they were home for this reason. This has been a decades long steady growth.
There are other reasons men are home as well.
3. Dad’s in school, Dad’s retired, Dad’s either ill or on long term disability.
Men have been injured in their careers. Many of them high risk Dirty Jobs, to provide for their families. Fathers have retired. Many men have decided to develop or change their skill sets through education. These are all legitimate reasons. There are likely quite a few others most of us haven’t considered.
Cause and Effect
A testament to the increased success women have enjoyed in pursuing higher paying careers outside of service industries, has been their access to college education, and their subsequent college degree(s).
The increased number and percentage of women who get college degrees, the reliance on hiring applicants with degrees, and the women who pursue corporate careers has also been in large part a reason fewer men are in the workforce. None of this is secret.
Conclusion
So the stigma of a stay at home dad, as a lazy wimp with no future, sitting at home playing video games is simply ignorantly cruel and dead wrong. The fact is most stay at home dads who have chosen to be at home with the kids, simply want to be a big part of their children’s lives. Many are also homeschool dads.
We need more men taking responsibility for the raising of their families. Now if we could just get more of the dads to homeschool the kids with a focus on Biblical ethics, while fostering their entrepreneurial spirits, we could really make an impact on our future.
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