BEYOND BREADWINNERS: Dads have been seen as second-string players when it comes to parenting, but scientists now see that fathers have a special influence on children's emotional and cognitive development.
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In Brief
- Fatherhood has undergone a profound change in the past half a century. In 1965 fathers were spending 2.6 hours a week on child care; by 2000 that figure had reached 6.5 hours. There are three times as many stay-at-home fathers as there were a decade ago.
- For years social scientists considered fathers to be second-string parents, but that view has changed, partly thanks to research revealing that dads are anything but bit players in their children’s lives. Fathers are biologically as responsive to their children as mothers are.
- Fathers influence children in unique ways. In particular, they play an outsized role in stretching their emotional and cognitive capabilities—enriching their verbal skills, for example, and encouraging them to take risks.
Mark Oppenheimer, a part-time stay-at-home father of two young girls, is used to stares. “When I’m walking down the street with one baby strapped to my chest and the other in a stroller—and the kids all look happy—and I walk by a group of mothers, they’re just blown away,” he says. “The easiest way in the world to get a smile is to be a man with a baby.”
Fatherhood has undergone a profound change in the past half a century. In 1965 fathers were spending 2.6 hours a week on child care; by 2000 that figure had reached 6.5 hours. There are three times as many stay-at-home fathers as there were a decade ago, and families headed by single fathers are the fastest-growing household type in the U.S. “When I started studying American mothers and fathers, the majority of the fathers I studied had never bathed their children. Many of them had never changed a diaper,” says developmental psychologist Michael Lamb of the University of Cambridge. That was in the 1970s. “Now,” he says, “men would feel embarrassed to say they hadn’t changed their children.”
This article was originally published with the title Family Guy.
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11 Comments
Add CommentI must be an anomaly. Even though he was in the Army during my infancy, he managed to be present at my birth in 1942, and he played a significant role in changing my "nappies," as we Brits called them. After we emigrated to the US for his job at the Pentagon, he was there every evening, sharing domestic duties with my mother. I was influenced more by him, since he was mentally stable and she was not. After they separated in my senior year in high school, I chose to live with him, and we remained close until his death in the late 90's, even he had retired to Britain with his 2nd wife in 1976.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFathers were back-up parents? Talk about sexism! Fathers have always been the primary providers and protectors for both the mother and the child. If they are spending more time with their children, it is because our service oriented economic system is finally allowing them opportunity to do so.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe implicit sexism of this article is astounding. Obviously this author has no concept of the males role in the family group and the tribe. She should study some comparative anthropology. Most tribal societies give the men a much larger role in child rearing. I raised 2 children and had a profound effect on their cognitive and emotional development. Primary work-at-home breadwinner, and more than 50% child care provider, the kids came out awesome. Creative, intelligent, secure, dynamic, communicative, and emotionally balanced. The real sad state of affairs is that so many children were deprived of male care because of the sick mentality of our economic system which breaks up family groups, and destroys our indigenous tribalism and egalitarian democracy to keep a few rich folks on top of the heap. Sexism, and the framing of inflexible sex roles as social values, is one of the primary control mechanisms.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree with jhboettcher except that "sexism" isn't a general enough description. "Narcissism" or some similar term describing the outlook of Western psychologists; they don't make a reasonable comparison to the kind of society that produced us, Homo-Sapiens, over millions of years of evolution. Beyond Dad staying home most days in the "nuclear family", a better situation is best described by the quote "it takes a village to raise a child".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI agree with jhboettcher except that "sexism" isn't a general enough description. "Narcissism" or some similar term describing the outlook of Western psychologists; they don't make a reasonable comparison to the kind of society that produced us, Homo-Sapiens, over millions of years of evolution. Beyond Dad staying home most days in the "nuclear family", a better situation is best described by the quote "it takes a village to raise a child".
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisEXCELLENT- REFER- www.ssdsfoundation.org leading towards Dr.self to Dr.your self for global population
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe article states: "Dads are biologically wired to take on any aspect of parenting"; however, males cannot breastfeed. Breastfeeding is a bonding interaction between mother and child that offers much more than mere nutrition.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe article also says that fathers spend more of their time than mothers do in "interactive activities." Reading, playing, or drawing are then classified as "interactive activities", while bathing and feeding are classified as "physical and emotional" care. Physical and emotional care are also interactive activities, as anyone who has ever bathed or fed an infant or a toddler knows.
The difference between these activities might be better described as "necessary" and "extra".
I am glad that some of were lucky enough to have a father,but in the end I don't there is enough uncorrupted data to draw conclusions as to support any of the theories presented here,Maybe if the story were more thought out,things might make more sence.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@J K Gohsmeyer:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think it would be good for you to read this: http://www.menstuff.org/issues/byissue/malelactation.html
Men can breastfeed and thus are "biologically wired to take on any aspect of parenting" and you comment is incorrect. As a stay-at-home dad who does online schooling and one who supported his wife breastfeeding our daughter for all 16 months of nursing (our daughter is now 17 months) I know that breastfeeding is more than just nutrition but "reading, playing, or drawing" are not "extra" they are necessary to the proper development of all children, ask any child development specialist. I'm glad that men are finally getting recognition for all our hard work as being parents. Women have been getting credit for thousands of years, let us have our limelight too. When a woman becomes CEO of a company I allow women to bask in the radiance of their liberation from sexist ideals, allow us men the same respect. This article is not demeaning the billions and trillions of mothers who raised their children but explaining that our current society allows men to do the same without stigma.
First of all let me thankyou for having acknowledged to my reply in scientific American and In apropos to your e-mail fri apr.9 2010 5.48 a.m and in response to my reply of somalinkaschussler at 01.12 am on 04-08-10 I wish to invite your kind attention to my www.ssdsfoundation.org being self efficacy in health promotion leading to Dr.self to Dr your self not only in respect of individual American but also all human being in the world whose comments and opinions are still awaited from your end
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThanking you
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Astro bio analyst
E-mail somalinkaschussler @gmail.com
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Well, in my family the roles are reversed kind of. My wife pushes my daughter to extremes and I am the over protective dad.
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