Today’s shifting social norms and demographics call for nontraditional enactment of gender and alternative family norms in order to survive. One of the debate issues in society today is work-life balance that is mostly driven by stay-at-home dads. There are various factors that drive stay-at-home dad’s families in society; these factors include human capital, dynamic nature of gendered expectations, as well as economic condition. There are several real-world examples that elaborate the extent of dads staying at home while mother go to work. In fact, stay home dads have various impacts to lifestyle of the family compared to stay home moms (Baylies &Jessica 24). Stay-at-home dad refers to the father who is the homemaker of all the households and caregiver of children. The society continues to evolve; hence, the issue of stay-at-home dads is become socially acceptable and common among various cultures. In the general perspective, stay-at-home dads are a reality in the world today and continue to influence lifestyle of families.
Perhaps, being a caregiver for children and taking control of household are major activities to every family. The fact is that people are used to stay-at-home moms to take care of children and undertake household chores. The beliefs and culture are tremendously changing, and more dads stay at home to take care of children and household activities. Recent studies show that men spend most of the time parenting than any past generation. In fact, fathers are more involved with the families (Eddie 35). The rising desire of men to be involved in caregiving has increased the number of stay-at-home dads. One of the examples of a father who focused at providing the best for his family is Michele Obama dad.
A stay-at-home dad affects the lifestyle of the family in various ways. One of the impacts is the issues of dependence in the family. The man will economically depend on the wife. Studies show that economically depended men on their wife are more likely to cheat. In fact, the issue of infidelity continues to increase the rate of divorce among stay-at-home dad families (Gill 45). These are a clear indication that the stay-at-home dad affects the lifestyle and the future stability of families.
Biologically men are masculine and are always associated with activities that demands energy. The issue of masculinity is a threat to stay-at-home dad’s lifestyles. Research shows that stay-at-home dads experience gender identity threats; hence, they compensate by resorting to sexually aggressive behavior, abuse of drugs, alcoholism, anger, as well as risk-taking behaviors. Such change of behavior is a threat to family since children, and the wife will develop some fear (Doucet 67). Economic dependency is a masculinity threat, and stay-at-home dads feel threatened. The man in the family may resolve to have multiple partners causing tension in the family.
The lifestyle of the family is affected by stay-home-das in the sense that it increases the sense of security, being cherished and happiness to children. Children in such environment tend to learn better and faster. The social setup of the family will improve tremendously. Stay-at-home dads provide valuable information on social perceptions about the entire family household. Mothers always form a strong bond with the children despite the fact that they are working. These means that fathers are staying at home will strengthen the bond between parents and children (Smith 56). Children development will be better if the family focus on stay-at-home dads.
Mothers in society are expected to look for caregivers to provide child care. Stay-at-home saves women the hustle of checking the background information of the caregivers. The family lifestyles, norms and values are upheld and instilled on children. One of the real world scenarios of the situation is the fact that Paul Peschisolido husband to Karren Brandy is a house-husband.
Compared to stay-at-home mums, many people believe that financial situations force stay-at-home fathers. The stereotype thinking seems to develop conflict among family members, yet in the real sense there are various reasons to these forms of lifestyles. Some fathers prefer to care for their children out of choice and love (Baylies &Jessica 24). In addition, full-time fathers find themselves struggle with boredom and isolation issues and have complaints on their stay-at-home wives.
Situations whereby one of the parents is working the family lifestyle may be economically strained. These mean that there is no better way to be economically strained if one of the parents is staying at home. The economic recession and challenges tend to exert much pressure to families. Stay-at-home dads worry from economic security of the family (Gill 25). Studies reveal that stay-home-mothers tend to complain more about the interruptions brought about by family caregiving. These imply that stay-at-home dads and stay-at-home mums are still controversial issues, socially on career development of parents.
Stay-at-home dads tend to develop many social and family issues compared to stay-at-home mums. These are because mothers will focus more on household issues and child care. Infidelity is rarely mentioned if mother remains at home. The issues of mistrust and infidelity are reported when fathers remain at home while mother go to work. Therefore, the lifestyle of the entire family is under threat if father stays at home. In the general perspective, stay-at-home dads continue to increase in society since parenting entails both partners.
Works cited
Baylies, Peter, and Jessica Toonkel. The Stay-at-Home Dad Handbook. Chicago, Ill: Chicago Review Press, 2004. Print.
Doucet, Andrea. Do Men Mother?: Fathering, Care, and Domestic Responsibility. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. Print.
Eddie, David. Housebroken: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Dad. , 2010. Internet resource.
Gill, Libby. Stay-at-home Dads: The Essential Guide to Creating the New Family. New York: Plume, 2001. Print.
Smith, Jeremy A. The Daddy Shift: How Stay-at-Home Dads, Breadwinning Moms, and Shared Parenting Are Transforming the American Family. Boston: Beacon Press, 2009. Print.
