A Pew Research study suggests a sharp upsurge in the numbers of stay-at-home dads in the recent past. A considerable number of women are taking up demanding professions while their husbands stay at home performing domestic duties that were once associated with women. Apart from the shift in caregiving roles, the American society also stands witness to women under the title of the movers and shakers of the nation. While mommy is at work earning big bucks, stay-at-home dads are busy with the household chores and watching the kids.

Choosing childcare over career: Daddy’s decision to stay at home

Perusing some of the Census data, it is obvious that the caregiving role once assigned to mother is now being handed to dads. The number of stay-at-home dads has more than doubled over the last decade and a half, from about 76,000 in 1994 to 189,000 as of last year.

Every so often, we read a piece heralding the age of female breadwinners while dads choose childcare over career. The rise of stay-at-home dads represents the shift towards gender equity as women dressed in black suits bag the executive positions at the Wall Street.

Mom’s superpower

Like the finance industry, many other demanding professions have long been underpinned by the gender dynamic. A growing number of moms with careers rely on the support directed towards them by their spouses. One thing that is enabling women in demanding professions to compete with a greater intensity is a stay-at-home husband.

The job market’s gender dynamic is silently being challenged with this shift in the caregiving roles. A growing number of dads are deciding to give up their full time jobs to watch the kids all day while the mom is the primary or sole breadwinner. The dady might take up a part time job or none at all. A major part of the money on which the household runs on is mom’s wages.

The tougher challenges

Surprisingly, even with babysitters and nannies at their disposal, these husbands want to mind the kids and do the household chores themselves. Such marriages are no less of an experiment of gender equality and to see if the professional women really can balance work, family and power.

Every so often the question of marital etiquettes comes along. Although the couples marching resiliently towards gender equality are happy with this setting, the world still has to accept stay-at-home dads. Questions like who makes the major financial decisions or who buys the wife jewelry when she strikes a big deal at work and the husband earns little or nothing challenges these kinds of marriages.