Dad's Get Dissed on Father's Day

Father's Day continues to play second fiddle to the celebration of moms in May, and Dad is feeling dissed.

Nearly 80 percent of men in a recent survey said Father's Day — which is this Sunday, June 19 —  gets less attention than Mother's Day even though they are doing as much around the house as their wives are.

Men clearly feel they play an equally significant role with their children and their households, according to a recent survey by ManoftheHouse.com, an online resource for dads sponsored by Procter & Gamble. Three-fifths (60 percent) say they share the responsibility for child care equally with their spouse, and almost half (43 percent) believe they spend as much time tending to grubbier tasks like scrubbing toilets and mopping floors.

Today's dads believe that, in comparison with the fathers of yesteryear, they've become true utility players, handling domestic duties as well as traditionally more-manly jobs such as maintaining the car and yard.

They also feel they're upping the ante in parenthood. Eighty-nine percent consider themselves good fathers, and 59 percent say they are better fathers than their own dads were.

This may indicate a redefinition of what it means to be a great father, researchers said. Though conceding that their own fathers may have been better financial providers for their families than they are, today's dads don't believe that this alone is the more important attribute of being a great father. It's more important, this generation of fathers believes, to spend time with their kids and spouse and care for their children.

"This study continues to debunk myths about what a man really is," said biological anthropologist Helen Fisher, who serves as a relationship expert for ManoftheHouse.com. "As women's roles outside the household are expanding, men's roles inside the household are expanding.  Men are once again expressing who they really are: energetic, caring, contributing, available dads. It's time to enjoy and recognize that."  

Fatherhood appears to be its own reward. Seventy percent of the new dads in the survey said they feel more fulfilled in their lives since becoming fathers.

This story was provided by BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. Reach BusinessNewsDaily senior writer Ned Smith at nsmith@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @nedbsmith.