Rising Trend of Stay-at-Home Dads Hits All-Time High
- Slightly more than one in five children of married parents (22.3 percent) lived with a full-time, stay-at-home parent in 2017, according to a Zillow analysis of U.S. Census data, unchanged from 2016.
- But the share of stay-at-home parents who are fathers has been steadily increasing since 2007, reaching an all-time high of 20.2 percent last year.
- Stay-at-home moms outnumber stay-at-home dads by almost four-to-one: 7.9 million moms to slightly more than 2 million stay-at-home dads.
The overall share of U.S. children living with a full-time, stay-at-home parent was unchanged in 2017 compared to 2016, and has remained largely flat since the mid-1990s. But even as full-time, stay-at-home parenting overall has stabilized, the share of stay-at-home dads has reached an all-time high.
Slightly more than one in five children of married parents (22.3 percent) lived with a full-time, stay-at-home parent in 2017, according to a Zillow analysis of U.S. Census data. That fraction plummeted from more than half of U.S. children (52.1 percent) in 1970, before stabilizing at 21.7 percent in 1995 and generally holding near that level ever since. Stay-at-home moms outnumber stay-at-home dads by almost four to one: Nationwide, there were roughly 7.9 million stay-at-home mothers last year, compared to slightly more than 2 million stay-at-home dads.
But the share of stay-at-home dads has been steadily increasing since 2007, reaching an all-time high of 20.2 percent last year, up from 20 percent in 2016. The exact reasons for the rise are unclear from the data, but the recession’s outsized impact on jobs in traditionally male-dominated industries including construction and manufacturing – and the uneven recovery in those sectors since the recession’s end – seems likely to have played a role.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, more than 6 million jobs were lost by men during the recession, compared to 2.7 million lost by women, which likely pushed many fathers to assume a bigger parenting role in the aftermath of the recession. Over the longer-term, research indicates growth in stay-at-home dads is attributable to more men making an overt choice to stay home to care for their family, in addition to those unable to find work.
Among the largest 100 markets nationwide,[1] Provo (41.5 percent) and Ogden (31.9 percent), Utah, had the largest share of households with at least one full-time, stay-at-home parent – mom or dad – followed closely by Lancaster, Penn. (31.4 percent). Large markets with the smallest overall share of full-time, stay-at home parents included Harrisburg, Penn. (13 percent), Minneapolis (13 percent) and Toledo, Ohio (14 percent).
Large markets with the biggest share of households with full-time, stay-at-home dads included Syracuse, N.Y. (26 percent of stay-at-home parents are dads), Springfield, Mass. (25.1 percent) and Palm Coast, Fla. (24.1 percent). Interestingly, the two markets with the highest overall rates of stay-at-home parents – Provo and Ogden, Utah – were among those markets with the lowest share of stay-at-home dads (4.6 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively).
The “Luxury” of Stay-at-Home Parenting
Prior Zillow research found that stay-at-home parenting in general appears to be somewhat of a luxury, particularly in more expensive housing markets, and that higher-income households are less likely to have a stay-at-home parent – to a point. The share of households with young children and married parents where a parent stays at home increases among the highest-earning households, suggesting the most affluent are able to afford a stay-at-home parent, especially in less-expensive markets. But in the most expensive parts of the country, such as coastal California, a smaller number of even the best-heeled families opt to or can afford to have a parent stay at home full time.
For many working parents, pursuing careers independent of their children is a personal choice beyond any financial motive. But across many metro markets, rising housing costs may be making it impossible for some parents who would prefer to stay at home to afford to live on a single income. By pushing both parents into the labor market, these budget constraints may increase demand (and cost) for childcare services as parents struggle to balance work and family life – and could be leading some couples to delay or opt out of having children altogether.
[1] Among the 100 largest MSAs, by population, for which full, valid data was available.