Societal Response to Familial Role Change in Australia: Marginalisation or Social Change?

Abstract

Over the past ten years researchers have noted changes in parental roles. The movement of women into the workforce, equal opportunity, ideals of egalitarianism and the greater emphasis on the role of the father has resulted in a reassessment of the home situation. This study of twenty five long term primary caregiver males, who reared their pre-school children while their wives/part-ners become the primary breadwinners, examined the perceived societal response to persons in this situation. Although the self select groups currently available for study can only allow the generation of hypotheses regarding primary caregiver males, early responses from this group indicated that considerable pressure was being brought to bear on these couples to revert to more traditional roles, while later responses showed a more positive orientation suggesting that individual and group negotiation, media and research interests appeared to be part of a process of change in the attitudes of the wider society. Further research using random sampling of a wider population is necessary to confirm these tentative indications.