The share of stay-at-home parents in the United States has fluctuated in recent decades. Others estimate there are many more, perhaps about 2 million. The U.S. Census conducts an annual study of family arrangements, and that is how it determined there were about 140,000 stay-at-home fathers in 2008. But stay-at-home dads still face some traditional stereotypes, even from family members. What it found was that in West Virginia, for example, where men make up an estimated 30 percent of stay-at-home parents, the unemployment rate is 6.6 percent, which is above the national average of 5.4 percent. Stay-at-home dads are sometimes wrongly portrayed as lazy, clueless, or lacking masculinity. In addition, Laredo has the highest percent of stay-at-home mothers. The kids range in age from a few months to 9 years old. So we talk about Lennon being a trendsetter, but Cary Grant decided to become a stay at home dad in an era when stay at home dads were virtually non-existent. Yes, most individuals (men and women) still hold this “ideal family” image with a career father and a stay-at-home mother, or, at most, a mother with a job (a trailing spouse). Our analysis used a broader definition: any father who's been unemployed for at least a year, and who is also at home with a child or children under 18. Tell us a little about yourself (Where are you from? With this approach, we sought to replicate the methodology used by the Pew Research Center in a 2014 report. Well, it is now 2016 and moms are not the only ones staying home with the kids anymore. Last year, by contrast, an estimated 1.9 million fathers remained home with the kids -- accounting for 16 percent of the stay-at-home parent population, according to a HuffPost analysis of U.S. Census data. Deals to your inbox Virus numbers by state How Biden got to 270 If Trump won't concede. One study found that 80 percent of those 1.9 million dads would be working outside the home if they could. The very definition of "stay-at-home dad" is also up for debate. Despite the constant push for fathers to play more active roles in the lives in their children, regardless of the studies that enforce how beneficial of a role active fathers play, and over looking the important bonds that are formed when dads spend quality time with their kids- the societal perception of stay-at-home dads is… bad. Privacy Policy. (25.1 percent) and Palm Coast, Fla. (24.1 percent). In 1989, when the Pew Research Center’s records began, being a stay-at-home dad was all but unheard of. For so long, our culture has easily accepted— even openly welcomed—stay-at-home moms as a natural role within the family structure. That state had the highest percentage of fathers who stay home. The most recent data can be found from a … More Dads Staying at Home When Todd Hastings of Nashville, Tennessee, separated from and later divorced his wife, he became the primary caregiver of their two children. he is absolutely miserable being home having to care for the kids and take them to school and take care of the house and cook dinner. Once you’ve taken the plunge to being the dude that handles the rigors of the day-to … A stay-at-home dad (alternatively, full-time father, stay-at-home father, house dad, househusband, or house-spouse) is a father who is the main caregiver of the children and is generally the homemaker of the household. The Census Bureau defines the term very narrowly, excluding same-sex partners, single dads and parents of kids who are older than 15, as well the fathers in families where both parents do not work. The Census Bureau defines the term very narrowly, excluding same-sex partners, single dads and parents of kids who are older than 15, as well the fathers in families where both parents do not work. The available statistics on stay-at-home dads are numerous, widely variable and most of them have glaring flaws due to a poorly formulated assumption about what is a stay-at-home dad. Black women black entertainment news, parenting tips and beauty secrets that are specifically for black women. In South Dakota, for example, 39 percent of stay-at-home parents are fathers, but unemployment is comparatively low. This has surely changed since the 1970s when there were only (hold your hats) six U.S. men who called themselves stay-at-home parents. In West Virginia, for example, where men account for an estimated 30 percent of stay-at-home parents, the unemployment rate is 6.6 percent -- well above the national average of 5.4 percent -- and the percentage of adults who are employed is the lowest in the nation. But the figure comes with a significant caveat: Most fathers aren't staying home voluntarily. SUBSCRIBE NOW. Estimated number of stay-at-home dads in 2011. After his daughter Jennifer was born in 1966, the iconic actor decided to give up acting in … Four percent of two-parent families had at-home fathers in 2010, up from 2 percent in the 1970s. Laredo has the highest percentage of families with a stay-at-home parent, at 52.1 percent. The reasons why any parent might stay home are complex and often very personal. Under that definition, the number of stay-at-home dads in the United States in 2012 was 2 million — a 91 percent increase from 1989. Yet elsewhere, the correlation did not hold. to "So who wears the trousers? 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