Stay At Home Fathering in North America

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== Stay at Home Fathering ==--SiobhanParry (talk) 21:51, 12 December 2016 (PST)

Stay-at-home Fathering (alternatively, stay at home dad, house dad, SAHD, househusband, or house-spouse) is when the father (biological or adoptive) stays at home to raise the children and is the primary caregiver for the kids. This has seen rising popularity over the past thirty years. Between 1972 and 2012, working age women’s labor participation rate increased from 43.9% to 57.7%, whereas working age men’s labor participation rate decreased from 78.9% to 70.2%. [1] The rise of women in the workforce and the decline of men out of the workforce is challenging societies gender norms and changing the dynamic of creating what seems to be 'new normal' in many families. Stay-at-home dads have been seen in increasing numbers in Western culture, especially in Canada, the UK and the United States since the late 20th century. In developed East Asian nations such as Japan and South Korea, this practice is less common

Stay at Home Fathering

Evolution of SAHD

World War II

The first shift from the ’nuclear family’ beginning during World War II, with the demand of jobs during the war women started entering the workforce as a necessity to provide care positions for the war. During this time the home dynamic changed the traditional family structure and the role of the mother providing childcare began to shift. [2]This was the first shift from the nuclear family towards a more modern age. This was also the time of the feminist movement and the introduction of Birth control. Women beginning to pursue careers post war and childcare not always being the most accessible or affordable, Stay at home fathering was introduced.

20th and 21st Century

The increase of stay at home fathering didn’t begin till the late 20th century. Although around this time having the male stay home and raise the child and the female be the primary breadwinner was increaily rare. In the 21st century the percentage of families in Canada with Stay at home Fathers began to rise. In Canada in 2011,12 per cent of fathers stayed home with children while mothers earned money, up from just 1 per cent in 1976, according to Statistics Canada.[3] These were dads who had not worked for pay the year prior. This means the number of fathers actually staying at home with children could be much higher. The Pew survey, which pulled from American census data, looked at fathers aged 18 to 69 who reported living with at least one child younger than 18, biological, step or adopted

The Shift

The main reasons for this shift was the rise of Women in the Workplace. When women began to get higher paying jobs, finically it made more sense for families to have the father stay home instead of the mother. Fixed gender roles also began to become less prescident and societal views began to shift. However with all the positive changes towards the normalization of Stay at home Fathering there was also a large amount of social stigma and scrutiny with fathers entering the private sphere.

Social Stigma Surronding SAHD's

A study was conducted looking into perceptions of incidences of stigma around 207 stay at home fathers. The results of this study showed that 70% of the stigma they faced came from incidents involving stay at home mothers.[4] The Stay at Home fathers stated that going too playgrounds or playgroups there was always a sense of isolation, in many scenarios they felt “Awkward” spending one on one time with the stay at home mothers. There is also a social stigma surrounding SAHD intentions raising the family, fathers reported they would get questioned why they were hanging around the Playground, or children's school. This sense of of being out of place these fathers feel makes you see how much of an impact gender roles has had on our society. e negative Stigma surrounding Stay at home Fathers is also deeply rooted in the pressure they feel amongst each other towards their own hegemonic masculinities. Stay at home fathers often report experiencing identity challenges and public stigma [5]. For that reason, “It is important for stay-at-home fathers to maintain their masculine identity rather than be subsumed into a feminized Mr. Mom identity” [6]. Where women are traditionally described as the homemakers for the family, men also have societal gender roles placed upon them. These are closely linked to the notion of men as the head of household, family protector, and financial provider, or primary breadwinner [7]. Even with the changing roles there is still a very strong tie between breadwinning and Masculinity. The Men who don’t confirm to the hegemonic masculinity could feel a negative impact on their own well being caused by the fear of inadequacy society has placed on them.

The Gendered Nature of Care

Women as Primary Caregivers

Societal views of caregiving have always been associated with female caregivers. This view is consistent with studies that examined unpaid care work and found that women provided many more hours of unpaid childcare and housework than men [8]. 
The idea of ‘gendered nature care’ has habitually been known as a feminine domain and “highly gendered towards maternal involvement”. Women have always been described as gentle, and caring which makes for good parenting. Since the 1980's Feminism’s attention to fathering has slowly evolved, beginning in the 1980s with growing calls for men to take an active part in caregiving, which was informed by the view that women’s socio-economic equality with men is dependent on men’s participation in domestic life [9].  Government care policy however has failed to keep up with the rate of men  are entering the private sphere, this is seen through the limited paternity care offered.

Paternity Leave in America

The U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 grants eligible employees (both male and female) 12 weeks of unpaid leave following the birth or adoption of a child; however, the Department of Labor estimates that only 60 % of the U.S. labour force is covered by this policy, leaving many without access to protected family leave [10] .

Paternity Leave in Canada

In Canada excluding Quebec there Maternity and Parental Leave Benefits (EI), provides new mothers with 15 weeks of maternity leave, paid at a 55 percent wage replacement and an additional 35 weeks of parental leave is available to either parent, again paid at a wage replacement level of 55 percent [11] . Though this policy is a lot superior to the US parental leave it still doesn’t give any distinct time allocated for the child and father to bond. The policy still focuses on the one on one time between the mother and child, which obviously to promote breast feeing and help the mother recover from child birth is a neccistaty. Though that his important, their also should be time allocated just between the father and the child in the early days, studies show that the bond between the father and child at the beginning can mold the relationship in the future.

QPIP- Quebec Parental Insurance Plan

The Canadian province of quebec aims to bridge the parental leave gap with implementing their own Paternity Policy. This plan provides 18 weeks of Maternity leave an additional 32 weeks of Paternal leave. "One notable difference from the Canadian plan is the designation of five weeks of nontransferable paternity leave for the father only. Unlike parental leave, this paternity leave is provided on a “use it or lose it” basis: If a father opts not to take it, his female partner cannot add this time to her maternity leave" [12].

References

  1. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 2016 http://x.doi.org/10.1037/men0000079
  2. The Star , 2016 https://www.thestar.com/life/2016/06/21/more-men-opting-to-become-stay-at-home-dads.html
  3. The Globe and Mail, 2014 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/stay-at-home-dads-on-the-rise-increasingly-because-they-want-to-be/article19014624/
  4. Psychology of men & masculinity, 2010 http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=153bb619-c8e1-4f7f-a1c2-bb6a15c2b003%40sessionmgr4008&vid=1&hid=4209
  5. A Genealogical, Relational, and Feminist Critique, 2016 http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/article/10.1007%2Fs11199-016-0582-5
  6. A Genealogical, Relational, and Feminist Critique, 2016 http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/article/10.1007%2Fs11199-016-0582-5
  7. Psychology of men & masculinity, 2016 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308925060_Caring_is_Masculine_Stay-at-Home_Fathers_and_Masculine_Identity
  8. Psychology of men & masculinity, 2016 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308925060_Caring_is_Masculine_Stay-at-Home_Fathers_and_Masculine_Identity
  9. sex roles, 2016 http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/article/10.1007%2Fs11199-016-0582-5
  10. sex roles, 2016 http://link.springer.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/article/10.1007%2Fs11199-016-0582-5
  11. Government of Canada, 2016 https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/ei-list/reports/maternity-parental.html
  12. Government of Canada, 2016 https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/ei/ei-list/reports/maternity-parental.html