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Title: The Rise of Stay-at-Home Father Families in the U.S.: The Role of Gendered Expectations, Human Capital, and Economic Downturns
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2013
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Abstract: We study the increasing number of families where the breadwinning role has shifted from men to women. We suggest that the rising population of stay-at-home father families is driven by economic conditions, human capital, and changes in gendered expectation. We make a distinction between unable-to-work and caregiving stay-at-home father families. When unemployment rates increase male spouses lose their employment and female spouses become the sole earners in unable-to-work stay-at-home father families.The proportion of caregiving stay-at-home father families is unrelated to the unemployment rate but increases linearly over time due to changing gendered expectations regarding the division of paid and unpaid labor in families. Furthermore, the growing gender education gap in favor of women makes human capital differences within couples a crucial factor in decision-making about dividing responsibilities for paid-work and caregiving. We test these prepositions using Current Population Survey data from 1968-2012. Using logistic and multinomial logistic regressions we find that unemployment rates are associated with a growing proportion of unable-to-work stay-at-home fathers but not caregiving stay-at-home fathers. Changing gendered expectations and an educational gap within couples are also associated with a greater probability of a household becoming a stay-at-home father family.
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Authors: Kramer, Karen Z.; Kramer, Amit
Publisher: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Data Collections: IPUMS CPS
Topics: Family and Marriage
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