Not too long ago, dads onscreen took on the starring role as the fumbling secondary caregiver who didn’t know how to braid their child’s hair or change a diaper, but according to research , the “useless dads” stereotype is very wide off the mark.

In fact, dads currently make up 18% of stay-at-home parents, according to a Pew Research Center analysis . The number of stay-at-home fathers has nearly doubled over the past 30 years, with economic downturns fuelling the trend.

Just 5% of fathers were stay-at-home dads at the turn of the millennium.

Around 2008, this percentage surged to 9%, yet with a strengthening economy, the share of fathers in the primary caregiver role gradually diminished—until the pandemic hit.

In the U.K. as well, research indicates stay-at-home dads surged by a

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