May 3, 2012
More fathers are becoming their children's primary caregiver, WORLD News Service reports. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 32 percent of fathers who have a wife in the workforce took care of their kids at least one day a week in 2010, up from 26 percent in 2002. Of those with kids under the age of five, 20 percent of dads in 2010 were the primary caretaker. Lynda Laughlin, a family demographer at the Census Bureau, said the reason was "a combination of mothers going to work and fathers being out of work as a result of the recession." Another reason is the closing of the wage gap between the genders: "In 2008, 26 percent of women living in dual-income households had annual earnings that were at least 10 percentage points higher than their spouse," CNN Money reported.