Advantages

For the child

There have been many studies done which suggest the importance of the paternal role in a child's life and benefits of the

stay-at-home dad.

Children respond differently to males and females at birth.

A study conducted by a United States child psychiatrist, Dr. Kyle D. Pruett, found that infants between 7 and 30 months responded more favorably to being picked up by their fathers.

Pruett also found that a father's parenting style is beneficial for a child's physical, cognitive, emotional and behavioral development.

Mothers reassure toddlers when they become frustrated while fathers encourage them to manage their frustration. This helps the children learn to deal with stress and frustration. A long-term study Pruett conducted proved that a father's active involvement with his children, from birth to adolescence, promotes greater emotional balance, stronger curiosity and a stronger sense of self-assurance in the child.

Additional studies show that during the first five years of a child's life, the father's role is more influential than the mother's in how the child learns to manage his or her body, navigate social circumstances, and play. Furthermore, a 1996 study by McGill University found that the "single most important childhood factor in developing empathy is paternal involvement in childcare". Children that have a strong paternal influence have more nurturing abilities. It has been researched in The Role of the Father in Child Development, that in general, children with stay-at-home dads develop attachments at infancy. The study further concluded that fathers who spent time alone bonding with their children more than twice per week brought up the most compassionate adults.

Robert Frank, a professor of child development at Oakton Community College in Illinois, conducted a study comparing households with a stay-at-home dad and households with a stay-at-home mom. His study concluded that women were still able to form a strong bond with their children despite working full-time outside the home. Also, women working full-time were often more engaged with their children on a day-to-day basis than their male counterparts. His study concluded that in a family with a stay-at-home dad arrangement, the maternal and paternal influences are equally strong. This contrasts with the more traditional family structure where the father works outside the home and the mother stays home with the children. In this type of arrangement, the mother's influence is extremely strong, whereas the fathers are relatively small. The study found that both parents play an equal role in a child's development, but the stay-at-home dad arrangement is the most beneficial for the child.

For the mother

The stay-at-home dad arrangement allows the mother to work without having to use a daycare or a nanny. This arrangement prevents the mother from having to deal with the stress of finding acceptable childcare, checking backgrounds, and paying for care. This arrangement also can help ensure that the family's values are being upheld and instilled in the children. Free from the stress of childcare, the working mother is able to actively pursue their career. This allows for a more relaxed working environment for the mother and allows her to focus on her career. If the mother has a higher paying job, this extra income will allow for savings to be made for the children, these savings could help the mother, later, on pay for university for the child and/or children. Thus, she can advance her career and provide more money for the family.[16] It puts a sound mind for the mother knowing that the child/children are at a safe place with the father having the same safety and values as the mother. These are the same advantages for the father from having a stay-at-home mom arrangement.

For the father

A survey conducted by Minnesota's Department for Families and Children's Services shows that men consider childcare to be far more important than a paycheck. Of 600 dads surveyed, a majority said their most important role was to "show love and affection" to kids. "Safety and protection" came next, followed by "moral guidance", "taking time to play", and "teaching and encouraging". "Financial care" finished last. Many men are now becoming more involved in their children's lives, and because of that many men now have a better understanding of what life is like for their child growing up in modern society. Because fathers are immersed in their children's lives, many of the stereotypically "manly" attitudes and activities historically prescribed for children may be circumscribed due to a more gender-neutral parenting approach that focuses on promoting independence and emotional well being. This allows children, especially male children, to grow up with a greater capacity for empathy and less rigidity in attitudes pertaining to gender roles that would perhaps be the case in more traditionally-structured households.

United States

In 2008, an estimated 140,000 married fathers worked in the home as their children's primary caregivers while their wives worked outside the home to provide for the family. This number is less than the previous two years according to the US Census Bureau. In 2007, stay-at-home dads made up approximately 2.7% of the nation's stay-at-home parents. This is triple the percentage from 1997 and has been consistently higher each year since 2005. In 2006, stay-at-home dads were caring for approximately 245,000 children; 63% of stay-at-home dads had two or more children. These statistics only account for married stay-at-home dads; there are other children being cared for by single fathers or couples. Also, it is difficult to ascertain how many of these stay-at-home dads have accepted the role voluntarily, and how many have been forced into it by the economic crisis of the late 2000s and early 2010s during which a great number of mostly-male blue-collar industries suffered significant losses and many previously employed men entered periods of prolonged unemployment.

Australia

Stay-at-home dads make up a very small portion of the Australian population although this appears to be rapidly changing. In 2003, 91% of fathers with children aged under 15 years were employed with 85% employed full-time. Because of this, there are few role models or resources that can help Australian fathers with the stay-at-home dad role. The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that approximately 7% of two parents families with children under the age of 14 have a father who is unemployed and a mother who works full-time. Stay at home dads in Australia have almost doubled over the past decade from 57,900 to 106,000, and expected to increase in the future. Recent sociological studies have shown that men are dedicating more time and support to their children in comparison to the 19th century. The idea of a stay at home dad was far from mainstream, however, the rising demand for female work has influenced this statistic to rise.

Canada

Over a 20-year period during the late 20th century, there was an increase in the number of women in the workforce in Canada. This shift increased father participation in family tasks that used to primarily be the responsibility of the mother. Beginning in the late 20th century, parental roles began to become less traditional, and the stay-at-home dad arrangement began to become more common. The number of stay-at-home dads increased by three percentage points between 1976 and 1998, and the average age of a stay-at-home dad in Canada is forty-two. A bill was passed in by the Canadian government in October 1990 which granted paid leave for fathers for the purpose of primary caregiving.

East Asia

Stay-at-home dads are not prevalent in East Asian countries, which generally have strict traditional gender roles. However, a survey conducted in 2008 in Japan suggested that nearly one-third of married men would accept the role. The Japanese government passed a law in April 1992 allowing time off following the birth of a child for both male and female employees. In 1996, 0.16% of Japanese fathers took time off from work to raise children. In South Korea, about 5,000 men were stay-at-home dads in 2007. Even so, stay-at-home dads face discrimination from stay-at-home mothers and are often ostracized.

China

Beginning in the 2000s, the stay-at-home dad began to emerge as a role in China, though some remain uncomfortable with the way the role changes traditional family dynamics. Customs in China suggest that men must be the heads of their households. Stereotyping is an issue for stay-at-home dads, who sometimes prefer not to tell others about their family arrangement. Traditional ideas promote criticism of "woman-like" men, and many[who?] feel that they would face humiliation and criticism for being stay-at-home dads. Others[who?] suppose they would be looked at as having a wife that is "too strong".

India

The role of the stay-at-home dad is not traditional in India, but it is socially accepted in urban areas. According to one sociologist's study in 2006, as much as three percent of all urban working fathers in India are stay-at-home dads, and twelve percent of unmarried Indian men would consider being a stay-at-home dad according to a survey conducted by Business Today. One sociologist Sushma Tulzhapurkar called this a shift in Indian society, saying that a decade ago, "it was an unheard concept and not to mention socially unacceptable for men to give up their jobs and remain at home." However, only 22.7 percent of Indian women are part of the labor force, compared to 51.6 percent of men; thus, women are more likely to be caregivers because most do not work outside the home.

United Kingdom

According to an article by the Daily Mail, the number of stay-at-home dads in 2007 had increased by 83 percent since 1993. According to the same paper, in 2007, recent figures from the Office for National Statistics showed more than 200,000 fathers chose to stay at home and be the primary caregiver for their children.

In an interview published in the Radio Times in May 2013, Karren Brady made it plain she "could never be a housewife". While she maintains a business career in London her husband Paul Peschisolido has the role of house-husband though Brady collaborates in tasks at home to a certain extent.

• Double burden
• Father's rights
• Housewife
• Masculism
• Nursing father
• Paternal bond
• Parental leave
• Paternity leave
• Sociology of fatherhood

North Korea

Until around 1990, the North Korean state required every able-bodied male to be employed by some state enterprise. However, some 30% of married women of working age were allowed to stay at home as full-time housewives (less than some countries in the same region like South Korea\Japan and Taiwan, more than Soviet Union\Mainland China or Nordic countries like Sweden, about the same as Today's the United States). In the early 1990s, an estimated 600,000-900,000 people perished in the famine, which was largely a product of the North Korean government's unwillingness to reform the economy, and the old system began to fall apart. In some cases, women began by selling household items they could do without or homemade food. Today at least three-quarters of North Korean market vendors are women.