{"id":40214,"date":"2014-06-05T11:57:50","date_gmt":"2014-06-05T16:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2014\/06\/05\/chapter-3-how-do-stay-at-home-dads-compare-with-working-dads\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T13:11:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T17:11:19","slug":"chapter-3-how-do-stay-at-home-dads-compare-with-working-dads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/social-trends\/2014\/06\/05\/chapter-3-how-do-stay-at-home-dads-compare-with-working-dads\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 3: How Do Stay-at-Home Dads Compare with Working Dads?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Characteristics<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Among all fathers who live with at least one of their children, stay-at-home fathers are less well-off financially than their working counterparts. About half (47%) of fathers at home are living in poverty, compared with just 8% of those working outside of the home. The poverty rate of stay-at-home fathers is even higher than that among stay-at-home mothers (34%).<\/p>\n\n

Overall, three-fourths (79%) of at-home fathers are married. Some 50% have wives who were employed during the past year, and 28% have wives who either did not work in the past year, or who were absent from the home. Another 15% of stay-at-home fathers are single, and 7% are cohabiting with a non-marital partner.[8. numoffset=”8″ The small number of fathers who are in same-sex couples, regardless of whether those couples are married or cohabiting, are classified as cohabiting.] While the plurality of stay-at-home fathers have a working spouse, among stay-at-home mothers, the share with a working spouse is much higher (68%)\u2014and this may partially explain why poverty is even higher among stay-at-home fathers than stay-at-home mothers.<\/p>\n\n

The high poverty rate among stay-at-home fathers may be further driven by their relatively low levels of educational attainment. More than half (58%) of fathers at home have a high school diploma or less, while this number is 36% among employed fathers. Some 22% of at-home fathers lack a diploma, as compared with 10% of employed fathers. About the same share of at-home fathers and employed fathers have some college experience or a two-year degree, but just 17% of at-home fathers have earned a bachelor\u2019s degree, as compared with 37% of working fathers.<\/p>\n\n

About half (52%) of stay-at-home fathers are white, while 20% are Hispanic, and 16% are black. By comparison, 64% of employed fathers are white, 19% are Hispanic, and 9% are black. Asians comprise 8% of at-home fathers, and 7% of working fathers. Both stay-at-home fathers and working fathers are equally likely to be foreign-born\u2014about one-fourth are. While the race and ethnic profiles of at-home and working fathers mirrors those of mothers, the nativity profiles are different; a disproportionate share of foreign-born mothers are stay-at-home moms.<\/p>\n\n

Stay-at-home fathers are quite a bit older than working fathers. While 43% of stay-at-home fathers are ages 45 years or older, this share is 33% among employed fathers. This is in stark contrast to the pattern among stay-at-home moms, who tend to be younger than their counterparts in the workforce.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among all fathers who live with at least one of their children, stay-at-home fathers are less well-off financially than their working counterparts. About half (47%) of fathers at home are living in poverty, compared with just 8% of those working outside of the home. The poverty rate of stay-at-home fathers is even higher than that 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