The well respected business and economics magazine Forbes has recently published the results, and touched on the potential implications, of a recent study on men and fathers in America.  One which is showing that men are beginning to place more emphasis on fatherhood than their careers.

The Pew Research Center recently released a study showing that women are beginning to value success in their careers more than men value their own.  When looking at this with consideration to last year’s University of Nebraska study that indicated that 75 percent of men consider being a parent very important, while only 48 percent had the same opinion about having a successful career, it is possible to draw a conclusion that the importance of the mantle of parenthood is potentially shifting from one parent to the other.  The survey’s creators admitted that there is a possibility of respondents answering to their ideal self, rather than their actual self, due to fear of a stigma against those who are over-concerned with work.  However, even if that is the case it still remains true that even if the execution has yet to come to pass more men are placing more emphasis on fatherhood in their lives.

Having a two-income family is still a luxury, and when at least one of the two incomes is significant enough to afford a solid living for a family of three or more, it’s a blessing. Most middle class families, when both parents are working out of necessity, it’s the ability to stay home with the children that is a luxury. It can be a difficult choice, particularly if one parent’s income is roughly equivalent to the cost of day care for his or her child or children.

Now that more men are staying home to care for their children while their wives concentrate on their careers, it’s easier to shatter one of the long-standing myths about fatherhood. Previously, men who chose to pause their path to career success were judged inadequate to survive in the world of business.