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Stay-at-Home Dads - 5/2/16

During the Great Recession, the number of stay-at-home fathers surged.  That had a lot to do with the characteristics of the recession.  Not only did the nation lose millions of jobs, but a disproportionate share of those jobs were lost in male dominated industries like construction and manufacturing. 

About nine in ten construction workers are male.  As reported in the Wall Street Journal, the share of married couple families with a working mother and a nonworking dad rose from four point eight percent in two thousand and six to seven point four percent by two thousand and nine. 

These data are supplied by the U.S. Labor Department.  However, by last year, the share of families with a working mom and a nonworking father was back down to five point three percent – equal to its long run average since nineteen ninety four. 

Still, the data indicate that there has been an increase in the number of stay at home dads regardless of what point we find ourselves at in the economic cycle.  Among married couple families with children, both parents were employed nearly sixty one percent of the time last year, up from the prior year, but still well below the level observed in two thousand and eight.   

Anirban Basu, Chariman Chief Executive Officer of Sage Policy Group (SPG), is one of the Mid-Atlantic region's leading economic consultants. Prior to founding SPG he was Chairman and CEO of Optimal Solutions Group, a company he co-founded and which continues to operate. Anirban has also served as Director of Applied Economics and Senior Economist for RESI, where he used his extensive knowledge of the Mid-Atlantic region to support numerous clients in their strategic decision-making processes. Clients have included the Maryland Department of Transportation, St. Paul Companies, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Players Committee and the Martin O'Malley mayoral campaign.