X Marks the Father

The Seattle Times recently published an article about the fathers of Generation X, and the differences between their Baby-Boomer counterparts.

‘When Reach Advisors surveyed 3,000 parents, Gen X dads spent twice as much time with children as baby-boomer dads, Chung said. ….

Even so, younger dads are still frustrated with that amount, wishing they could be around more. “The concept of ‘quality time’ has disappeared with Generation X,” Chung noted. “It’s not what they can do for kids, but what they can do with them.”‘

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Pretty accurate. The article also highlights trends already familiar to Blogfathers, and young new fathers in general: family as a priority, more personal involvement, the dearth of fatherhood resources, and frustration with popular stereotypes of dads. We’re not alone, guys. Does this sound familiar:

‘”When I take Ethan to the park or go grocery shopping, I see dads with kids all over the place,” [Chris] Yeargin said. “But when I get to the checkout stand, I still get the ‘Oh, you’re baby-sitting today’ comments. No, I’m not baby-sitting, and neither are all of these other dads.”‘

Lately it seems that these issues are popping up everywhere, more and more often. Last month, Jeremy was featured on CNN’s Digital Life podcast for this very topic (MP3).

Which raises the question, yet again: when are we starting a fatherhood magazine?

One Response

  1. JGS
    JGS at | | Reply

    I’m in, as you might’ve guessed. I actually just contacted one of the few father magazines and they don’t have enough advertisers to keep them afloat – they had to shut down (they hope temporarily). What’s the problem? Do advertisers not think men don’t make any money or don’t buy things? Or do they think not enough men will read it?

    I think the sad fact is, we’re still in the minority of fathers and the younger the father, the more likely they are to get parenting information online. An interesting dilemma.

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