Stay-at-home fathers have increased 10-fold in the past decade, a survey has revealed.
A poll of 1,000 parents by insurance firm Aviva has found 6% of fathers are now the primary carer of their child.
Across the country, this means 600,000 men have now taken on caring duties, up from 60,000 in 2000.
The majority of stay-at-home dads said the main reason for this decision was because the mother earned more money. The survey found that mothers earned more in a sixth of all the households surveyed.
Nearly a third of fathers also said they found childcare more rewarding than going to work.
In more than two-thirds of the households surveyed, one parent had reduced their hours or given up work altogether in order to look after their family, with a third saying they had done so because of childcare costs.
In total, 18% of couples were found to share childcare responsibilities equally, the BBC reported.
Adrienne Burgess, research director at the Fatherhood Institute, said the findings indicated that men wanted to spend “more time” at home.
She said: “It just isn’t the same [now] – there are more women in higher education and they are starting to earn quite a lot.
“Men want to spend more time with their children; men [are] becoming aware that they haven’t had it all.”
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But some women reported that they found the role reversal difficult, with 37% saying they felt guilty going out to work and leaving their children, but only 9% said they would swap places with their partner and stay at home.
Louise Colley from Aviva said: “While both roles are equally valuable, nowadays it’s quite likely that women will be heading off to the office while men are changing nappies and doing the school run.”
