More Dads at home with kids because they want to be

It was only in the past few years that scientists found that men, like women, have hormonal and neurological changes once they become parents. When they become fathers, men, too, produce estrogen and prolactin, the hormone associated with producing breast milk, their testosterone levels drop and their production of the bonding hormone, oxytocin rises.

Pruett and a handful of others who study fathers have found that, contrary to the cultural view that mothers are key to child development while fathers are merely providers and bystanders, involved and active fathers strengthen child development. “Being an involved father changes him, his health, the nature of his relationships, his job satisfaction, his warmth. It changes the child, and improves the child’s chances for well-being and the ability to deal with the kinds of everyday stresses in their lives,” Pruett said.

In fact, Pruett said, the emerging science should not come as a shock. The distant, provider father only emerged as a cultural ideal during the Industrial Revolution. “During the pre-industrial period, men were very close to their kids. They worked together in the field. They spent a lot of time with them,” he said. “This artificial polarization of Dads Who Work and Moms Who Care started very recently with the Industrial Revolution. Well, the factories have shut down. Today, 86 percent of fathers feel they want to be more involved with their children than their fathers were with them. We should give them support and help, not only in the home, but also in the workplace.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2014/06/05/dads-who-stay-home-because-they-want-to-has-increased-four-fold/