ABSTRACT
The professional literature presents starkly contrasting views in changing trends in fatherhood. It is true that significant numbers of men spend less time in households with children, and experience less 'leisure time' than in the past 50 years. Demographic data indicate that divorce, mother-headed households, and defaults on court-ordered alimony and child support payments have reached or are near all-time highs. There are significant questions concerning the ability to accurately assess the degree of change that has occurred in levels of paternal involvement across history in the United States. Colonial fatherhood involved a remarkable amount of daily care, companionship and concern. Since the time of the Industrial Revolution, fathers have increasingly devoted time and energies in employment away from the home setting. The reality is that developmental outcomes are multiply determined, and it could be viewed as an oversimplification to present the consequences of father role balance.
