Obviously, more and more dads are taking on full time fathering responsibilities. And from what I have been reading and learning from talking to stay-at-home dads, I can see why.
Fathers come to being a stay home dad in a variety of ways.
Traditional Role Reversal. The most common way dads come to be full-time caregivers is when the dad’s wife becomes the breadwinner. This happens often when the mom in the family has a career with sufficient income to support the family alone. The June 23, 2003 issue of People Magazine tells the story of Brian Fogg, a stay-at-home dad. Brian’s wife Jennifer is a construction company executive. When Brian and Jennifer decided that Brian would stay home to be a full-time caregiver, they were able to survive the pay cut and give their children a full-time at home parent.
Work at Home Dads. Some fathers are able to survive economically by working out of their home while mom is either working outside the home or is not part of the family. Free lance consultants, telecommuters and others may fit into this category.
Custodial Dads. In some cases, stay at home dads decide to be home because they are the sole caregiver due to a divorce or death of a spouse. In some cases, they work from home or may receive child support, insurance and social security benefits and the like.
Independent Income Dads. A very few full-time dads I have contacted have an independent source of income from inheritance, investments and the like, and are able to commit to stay-at-home fatherhood on such an income.
Whatever the situation, dads who have a viable choice to be an at-home dad and make that choice are generally happy with the outcome.
