Stay-at-Home Dad (1981) As traditional gender roles were questioned and the number of working women increased, the “stay-at-home dad” emerged as a phenomenon, especially in urban, intellectual middle-class circles. While the wife pursued her career and earned the family income, the husband was in charge of the household and child rearing. Only few men chose the role of stay-at-home dad out of conviction; for most, unemployment – either through the loss of a job or for other reasons – was the driving force behind a gender-role reversal. On the whole, however, stay-at-home dads remained rare.