Statistically speaking, am I the best husband and father of all time? And should I make my wife aware of these favorable numbers?
/From a recent Wall Street Journal piece entitled Are Dads the New Moms? :
A recent U.S. Census Bureau report found that 32% of fathers with working wives routinely care for their children under age 15, up from 26% in 2002.
A few thoughts on this statistic:
- What the hell are the other 68% of fathers doing? Am I really supposed to believe that in the majority of these homes, both parents are working but only the mother is routinely caring for the children?
- What do these same statistics look like for husbands whose wives aren’t working? If only 32% of fathers with working wives routinely care for their children, I can’t imagine what the number might be when the wife’s primary role is child care.
- Does golf play a role in these statistics, because if that’s the case, it’s slightly more understandable.
- Could I be one of the only working fathers with a non-working wife who routinely cares for his children?
- Does my wife know how lucky she is to have one of the few fathers who routinely cares for his children?
- Most important, how often can I remind her of this fact without turning this positive into a negative?