How common are stay-at-home dads?

The stay-at-home parent who focuses on raising the children has, traditionally speaking, usually been the children’s mother. This is still the way that things work out most of the time, even in 2020, but the amount of stay-at-home fathers has been rising.

For instance, in 1989, the percentage of stay-at-home fathers was just 4%. In 2016, reports showed that it had risen to 7%. There was even a high of 9% recorded in 2010.

It’s clear that, even though mothers (27% in 2016) take on this role more often, fathers are beginning to embrace it. This gives many of them a unique relationship with their children that they may never have had in previous decades.

The reasons for the rise are many. In 2010, the United States was in the middle of a recession. Did the number of fathers at home spike because some had lost their jobs? Plus, over the last few generations, the role of women in the workforce has changed. Did more dads stay at home with their children now because women finally have the career opportunities that were denied to them in the past? All of these things work together and shape the way that parents of both genders interact with their children.

It’s important to acknowledge the role of fathers’ rights in cases involving child custody, divorce and the like. It cannot be assumed that fathers do not want time with their children or cannot offer the care that they need. Fathers are proving what they can. Those who go through a divorce must understand how this shapes their rights and what legal options they have.