Dads happy at home | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

Andrew Graham loves being a stay-at-home dad for Jessica, 3, so much he jokes about home-schooling her after she turns five.

The Burwood dad is one of a growing number of Kiwi men who are trading in suits and the office for an apron and domestic duties.

Mr Graham has been Jessica's at-home carer since she was six months old and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"It's been great. I always wanted to look after the kids," he said.

He has two teenage children from a previous marriage.

After being made redundant from his job as distribution manager for Lion Nathan, the decision to stay at home, while his wife Angela continued to work, was an easy one, he said.

She is a team leader at Canterbury Brewery.

"It made economic sense," he said.

The rise of the house husband seems unstoppable, with Statistics New Zealand revealing the number of men looking after a child in their household leapt from 343,893 men in 2001 to 372,858 in 2006 - the latest year for which figures are available.

The phenomenon has even inspired a Facebook page - the House Husbands' Association of New Zealand.

Dads use the group to share parenting tips, jokes and recipes, and even organise an annual pig hunting trip.

Mr Graham's days start at around 6am, when he gets up and makes his wife's lunch and then it's domestic chores, gardening and daily outings with Jessica.

She also attends Burwood Playcentre twice a week.

Wellington dad and author of parenting book Call Me Dad, Eric Mooij, says the shift is a result of society "maturing" and "stepping up."

Mr Mooij says the number of stay-at-home dads probably increased further during the recession, with more fathers out of work.

The trend has been noted by early childhood researcher Dr Sarah Farquhar.

A paper she presented at the Men in Early Childhood Summit in Auckland noted it was much more acceptable for dads to be primary caregivers.

She said the change was also reflected in the early childhood sector. The number of male kindergarten and childcare teachers increased markedly between 2005 and 2009.

Dr Farquhar welcomed the change but said there was a long way to go before the numbers of male teachers were up where they should be.

And she labelled the Government "sexist" for not doing enough to recruit male teachers.

Stefan Korn, one of the authors of the Wellington-based website DIYFather.com, said attitudes towards men who stayed home were improving but weren't perfect. "A lot of the guys do get a bit of flack from their mates - they say 'you're staying home with the kids, do you want to hand in your man card?"

He said most chose to stay home for financial reasons, because their partner earned more, but some simply wanted time with their kids.

"It's fantastic for any parent to spend time with their children, it's just that dads in the past haven't really experienced it. They're now waking up and saying - we're missing some really good stuff here."