Chapter 9
Whencomparingstay-at-home-father
householdstostay-at-home-mother
households,mothersstillformedstrong
bondswiththeirchildrenevenwhenthey
workedmorethan40hoursperweek,
accordingtoTheFuturist(2005).Thissame
studyfoundinfamilieswherethemother
worksoutsidethehomeandthefatherisa
stay-at-homefather,mothersweremuch
moreengagedintheirchildren’sday-to-day
lifethanworkingfatherswithstay-at-home
wives.Instay-at-home-fatherhouseholds,
childcareismorelikelytobedistributed
evenly,withfathersperformingmanyofthe
roleshistoricallyassociatedwithfemale
homemakers.Thesefamilieswerefoundto
havebothastrongfatherinfluence,aswellas
astrongmotherinfluence,withbothparents
playinganimportantroleinthechild’s
development.Thisisincontrasttostay-at-
home-motherfamiliesinwhichtheworking
fathertendstohavemuchlessinfluencein
childdevelopment(Baylies,2004;The
Futurist,2005).
The Repercussions of Imbalance
Howdoesthe“divisionof labor”
regardinghouseholdchoresaffectmarriage?
Wemightassumewomenoverallwouldbe
veryunhappyaboutanyperceived
imbalance.However,divorcestatisticsdo
notindicatethis.Infact,thedivorceratein
theUnitedStatesreachedapeakintheearly
1980sandhasstabilizedorslightlydeclined
sincethen(Eldridge&Sutton,2007).Lack
of helpwithhouseholdchoresisrarelya
primaryreasonfordivorce.
Generally,thetrendfollowsadualtrack.
Manyfirst-generationwomenwhowork
outsidethehomeoftendonotinsisttheir
husbandsputinequaltimeondomestic
duties.Theygrewupinacultureinwhich
cooking,cleaning,andchildcarewere
consideredtobe“women’swork.”Thus,
theygenerallyacceptresponsibilityfor
theseduties.Theirhusbandsmayormay
notcontributetohouseholdchores,
althoughmanyhavebeeninfluencedby
culturalexpectationstoatleast“lenda
hand.”
On the other hand,the husbands of
second- and third-generation women who
work outside the home are much more
involved in family responsibilities today
than their fathers were,particularly in
parenting tasks (Amato,Booth,Johnson,
& Rogers,2007; Bianchi,Robinson,&Men and women have learned to communicate
and negotiate their contributions to household
and family management.©iStockphoto.com/nano