A new study by the Pew Research Center shows that the number of dads who choose to stay home and care for their children and families has quadrupled (成为四倍) over the past 25 years. Can social and economic factors explain the change?
Make no mistake; fathers who are the primary caregiver for their children are far from the norm. In fact, they are only 16% of all stay-at-home parents.but that number is up from 10% since 1989. When pew started analyzing data. The steady growth since then suggests that these numbers represent a growing trend.
“It’s up from 1.1 million to 2 million,” says Gretchen Livingston, one of the study authors. “ More significantly, the number of man who say they stay at home specially to take care of their home and children is at an all-time high, more than four times the rate of fathers who gave that same answer in 1989.”
As women have taken on more high-paying careers, the assumption that they’ll stay home with the children has become less automatic.
“My wife and I were earning about the same income at the time just after our daughter was born. We felt that if someone was going to raise our children it would have to be one of us,” says Al Watts, the president of the national At-Home Dad Network. “My wife was promoted shortly after she got back from maternity leave and that rise in pay would allow us to live on one income.”
In 1989, 10% of fathers were stay-at-home parents. In 2014, 16% are. Fourteen percent of the fathers without a high school diploma stay at home, compared to 3% of those with a college degree. In 1989, more than half (56%) of dads who stayed at home cited (引用) illness or disability ass the top reason. Thirty-five percent cite that reason now. Only 5% of stay-at-home dads in 1989 said caring for family was the main reason for staying at home. Now, that number is 21%.
The rise in stay-at-home dads coincides with a change in social and economic trends regarding
women in the workforce, says Farnoosh Torabi, author of When She Makes More. “We know that before they even get married, women are out-earning and out-earning men,” she says, noting that younger women are now getting more degrees and better paying jobs, on average, than men.
61. The underlined sentence in the second paragraph means that ________.
A. there are not enough stay-at-home dads
B. being stay-at-home dads is a trend now
C. stay-at-home dads are still in the minority
D.stay-at-home dads are making a mistaken decision
62. What impresses Gretchen Livingston most according to paragraph 3?
A.The total number of stay-at-home dads.
B. The purpose of becoming stay-at-home dads.
C. The quick increase in the number of stay-at-home dads.
D. The reason for the wide acceptance of stay-at-home dads.
63. What made Al Watts decide to become a stay-at-home dad?
A. His being out of work. B. His making more money.
C. His wife’s wage increase. D. His wife’s encouragement.
64. In Farnoosh Torabi’s opinion, the rise in stay-at-home dads results from _________.
A. the terrible economic environment B. the rise in women’s economic status
C. the ever-increasing cost of raising children D. the change of men’s attitude towards family