AdAge's Matt Carmichael took an interesting look at a Parents Magazine/Edelman survey tracking dads' shifting roles in family life. As ambivalent as I am about encouraging targeting by dad-happy marketers, I found myself basically agreeing with his take:
With any research like this, it's all about perception. In another part of the study, for instance, the surveyors asked a similar question to both moms and dads. Guess what they found? In that survey, the question was worded more generally, so a whopping 70% of dads said they did the grocery shopping. But only 36% of moms surveyed said that dad did the grocery shopping. You see similar disconnects in perceptions about taking care of sick kids, cooking, cleaning and doing laundry. The dads have a very different notion of their role in things than the moms do. Dads almost universally think they're earning the money and buying the cars, but so do roughly three in four moms.Carmichael pegs the release of the study to the Dad2.0 Summit in Austin last week, which I was not able to attend. I'll look around as well, but if you know of any good online discussion of the survey from the Summit, feel free to stick a link in the comments.
"Why Not Let Them?" really bugs, though: Stat of the Day: Why Brands Should Enable the New Dad | Fathers at Least Think They Make Decisions. Why Not Let Them? [adage]
I agree with this as well. Oftentimes, I feel that I'm doing a good job as a hands-on dad, only to have reality snap me back into place.
I think it's good for dads to ask their spouses and children "How am I doing as a dad?" or "How can I improve?" Ask it as often as possible.