Sunday 7 December 2014

Essay 53 (Fathers as Homemakers)




Nowadays more and more fathers look after their children at home, while mothers are doing fulltime work. What are the reasons? Is it a positive or negative development?

In the recent times, an increasing(growing) number of men stay(remain) at home and care for(look after)their children, whereas(while) women engage(are involved) in fulltime jobs and earn for the families.  A number of factors have led to this situation, and, this trend, in my opinion, is greatly desirable(acceptable).

One of the major reasons for this shift(change) in gender roles is the unemployment of many men especially due to frequent occurances of conomic recession in many parts of the world.  This has resulted in many men staying(remaining) at home and providing for the needs of their children, while women continue to earn for the family.   For example, the dot-com industry suffered(experienced) a major meltdown(recession/collapse) in the United States a decade ago and the majority of employees who were laid off were men. It was not easy for them to find an alternative employments and many of them stayed at home and looked after their kids.

The rise in women's earning power, is another factor, that has led to this situation.  This would mean that many women draw(earn) bigger salaries than men and it is often more reasonable(logical) for them to save(avoid) the expenses of babysitting than going for a job.  For instance, women who work as business executives, doctors and lawyers usually earn huge(enormous) salaries, whereas their husbands may not be well-paid.  If they have two or three kids, it is financially more viable for their husbands to look after their children at home than spending on a nanny.

On the other hand, many people think that men are forced to become homemakers mostly due to economic reasons and therefore their self-esteem can be affected. Nonetheless, it is increasingly being considered as a positive development by majority of people because it has helped to rectify conventional attitudes and raise women's morale(self-esteem).  Moreover, children would be more comfortable being cared by their father than a nanny.

In conclusion, it is mostly economic reasons that has led to the recent increase in the number of male homemakers.  It definitely has greater advantages for the society and therefore should be appreciated.

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