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What It Means to be a Dad
The Changing Role of Fatherhood
By Johnathon Allen
The popular media has a tendency to cast modern fathers in one of two stereotypes: "dead-beat dads" or "Mr. Moms." But recent studies show that over the last four decades, the role of fathers in the modern family has become increasingly complex.
"When we look at current trends in fathering, we see that a lot has changed over the past few generations, and that there's some good news and some bad news," says Dr. Wade Horn, president of the National Fatherhood Initiative (NFI). "On the good side, studies show that fathers who have relationships with their kids spend more time with them than their fathers or grandfathers did. The bad news is that more kids than ever are growing up in single-parent homes."
"Two hundred years ago, society was more agrarian and fathers were highly involved in the affairs of their children," Horn says. "Men primarily farmed and hunted so they tended to be in the home more. Socially, they were seen as the provider, moral guide and teacher of the children. If their kids grew up to be prosperous adults, it was seen as a reflection on the father. As the industrial era began, fathers spent more time away from home and their role came to be more strictly defined as that of the provider. At this time, American mothers took on the social role of raising the family. Baby Boomers like to think they invented the concept of 'involved fatherhood,' but really, fathers have participated significantly in their children's lives for most of human history."
Part of the reason many fathers are more involved in their children's lives today is due to the fact that women have moved into the work force. In fact, both parents work in more than half (13.8 million) of the two-parent families in America.
"In the '50s, when men were the primary breadwinners, the responsibilities of the man and woman were divided between work and home," Horn says. "As more women joined their male partners in the work force, it became increasingly important that the domestic workload, including the raising of the children, was more evenly distributed."
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