Financial Decisions Leading More Fathers To Stay Home With Children
By Michelle Durham
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A growing number of dads are choosing to stay at home with their children and a local expert is not surprised.
Professor of Social Work at Temple University Dr. Jay Fagan says the number of men choosing to stay home with their children has been steadily growing.
"Some of this increase predated the recession. In the early part of 2000 the number of fathers who stayed at home with their children practically doubled. The reasons that men gave were financial."
With their wives making as much or sometimes more than them, couples are no longer locked into a traditional decision.
"A lot of stay-at-home fathers do complain of feeling isolated and not having support. Just about all stay-at-home fathers have had some experience with feeling stigmatized -- being in a playground and mothers not including them."
He says, although men have traditionally taken heat for not multi-tasking, the reality is that dads are just as capable of taking care of home and family.
