Economic Downturn Cycles and the Rise in the Proportion of Stay-at-Home Father Households

Karen Z. Kramer, University of Minnesota
Amit Kramer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

We relate trends in the proportions of stay-at-home father households with macroeconomic fluctuations. Specifically, we suggest that during an economic downturn, stay-at-home father households become more prevalent; male spouses lose their job and female spouses become the sole earners of a household. Once the labor market recovers and unemployment rates decline, the proportion of stay-at-home father households also declines, but stays above pre-economic downturn levels. Thus, labor market conditions are associated with changes in division of household work. We test this proposition using CPS data from 1976-2009. We find an association between increased unemployment levels and the proportion of stay-at-home father households. In addition, each recession is associated with a boost in the proportion of stay-at-home father households in the population. Finally, the increase in stay-at-home father households is driven by an increase in fathers who choose to stay-home and are not forced to stay home (e.g., because of disability).

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Presented in Session 196: Social Change and Family Change