The Importance of Fathers
In many ways, fathers have been given a bad reputation. Historically, they were seen as less involved in the care of their children for several reasons: fathers were expected to join the workforce to provide for their families financially; education and work opportunities for women were limited, so mothers were the presumed homemakers in the traditional nuclear family; and mothers tended to engage in a behavior called “maternal gatekeeping,” a phenomenon coined by psychologists at the University of Georgia wherein mothers play an outsized role in determining fathers’ roles.
In recent decades, however, father involvement in families has increased dramatically. For one thing, it’s less common today for dads to be their family’s sole breadwinner. With more moms working outside the h