London, January 26: The number of house-husbands and women turning the main breadwinner of families is on the rise in Britain, a new study says.
It says that the number of house-husbands in Britain has tripled over the last 15 years. Last year, 62,000 men whose partners went out to work were classed as “economically inactive” compared to just 21,000 in 1996, the Daily Mail reported.
This follows on from a recent survey which also found that there are 1.4 million men across Britain whose main role is of being the primary carer for their children.
The new figures, which were complied for The Spectator magazine by the Office of National Statistics, showed that the trend shows no sign of slowing down.
Many believe that one of the reasons behind the trend is that society’s attitudes to the roles of men and women has changed — with fathers now happy to relinquish the traditional role of being the main breadwinner and take on the burdens of the family home.
Anastasia de Waal, head of families policy at the think tank Civitas, said: “A few decades ago the idea of the primary carer being a man would have been emasculating.”
“That has changed. Men feel much more comfortable with the idea.”
–IANS