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Based on article entitled Honey, I’m (at) Home”: Lived Experiences of Househusbands with Absentee
Wives
The househusbands who play role reversals with their absentee spouses were investigated in this study. It
looked at the fundamental causes of the reversal of roles in marriage and the necessity to work overseas,
as well as the difficulties and how it affected their self-perception. The coping strategies, lessons learned,
and epiphanies of househusbands facing role reversals were also examined. The results of in-depth
interviews with seven househusbands and their families were derived using the phenomenological
approach. The pair decided to transfer positions mostly due to the wife's greater work options and the
family's financial concerns. These elements also had an impact on their spouses' choice to work overseas.
the strain of taking care of children, doing chores, and preserving a happy marriageThe battle for social
acceptance in the context of the new family structure were the main obstacles. Househusbands'
relationships with their spouses, kids, family members, and friends thereafter underwent both good and
bad changes, but their connections with those outside of their nuclear family stayed the same. The
favorable self-concept of househusbands persisted even when they carried out chores that are typically
attributed to women. Self-pity and shame were also apparent. Househusbands overcame the difficulties by
performing their newly designated roles as the primary caretaker and faithful companionSupport from
friends, family, and relatives on a social, emotional, and financial level also helped them cope. Role-
reversing among househusbands strengthened their union and improved their morals and professional
competencies. Research and counseling profession implications were highlighted Gender sensitivity is
thought to be extremely evident in household duties. According to gender stereotypes, wives are the
primary caregivers and housewives, while husbands are the family's breadwinners, working and providing
for the family. However, intentional desperation causes a change in the roles of husband and wife, with
husbands becoming househusbands as housewives start earning a living. Stereotypical ideas on the
subject tend to focus more on men than on women because, according to how society portrays them, men
should have greater authority and play a more dominant role in the home. Assuming the role of a less
assertive woman so calls into question the authority and masculinity of househusbands.In the West, the
idea of a househusband is well understood. Actually, it's an increasing trend in America (Wentworth and
Chell 2010), where the percentage of fathers who remain at home with their children quadrupled to 2.7%
in 2007 from the percentage of stay-at-home parents in 1997 (www.washingtonpost.com). Due to the
growing number of households in the Philippines where only the wives work, the number of
househusbands is starting to climb (www.gmanews.tv). Despite these results Few research have been
done on househusbandry, and little is known about the Philippine setting. As a result, there is a need to
educate the public about the subject and deal with the socioeconomic and political issues that arise from
it. The initial goal of this research is to ascertain the dimensions or causes of the phenomena of husband-
wife role reversal Next, we shift the conversation to how society views housekeeping and whether or not
it is a socially acceptable habit. Lastly, we discuss masculinity, dominance, and power while
concentrating on the husband's acceptance of himself and his perspective on the situation.
*We employ the same definition of househusbands, housebands, or stay-at-home dads as provided by
Wentworth and Chell (2010). A man who is lawfully wedded to a woman is known as a houseband.
spouse who is at least one parent. He oversees the majority of the duties and serves as the main caretaker
and housekeeper. He could be employed or run his own business, but his wife provides the lion's share of
his money
The idea of fatherhood is a byproduct of a socially constructed phenomenon, which can be defined and

examined. from a variety of angles, but not exclusively socioeconomic and cultural structures;

consequently, fatherhood turns into a subjective and dynamic idea, practice, role, and manner of life.

Fatherhood turns into a turning point in every man's life. where significant shifts in priorities occur

(Carlson & Turner, 2010). This is frequently linked to the nurturing and caring behavior of a family.

Within this framework. However, most researchers conceptualize SAHFs as a byproduct of

socioeconomic conditions in which fathers become the principal caregivers (Davis et al., 2020; Lee &

Lee, 2018). These socio-economic conditions have grown to be a major factor that the family should

consider when considering migration. brings moms outside of their homes, gender roles, and expectations

statements begin to shift and alter, upending the cultural order. The study of fatherhood, motherhood, and

domesticity resulted in a transnational family life. Currently, mothers need to depart from their homes to

bring their lives to an end. poverty while fathers began to take on more traditional roles as the caregivers

of their children who are left behind (Graham & According to Jordan (2011) and Walters (2011),

transnational families are now change the dynamics of their family by redefining gender roles via role-

playing, sharing, and validation (Garabiles et al., 2017). According to the 2020 report of the Philippines

Statistics Authority (2020), the percentage of Filipino women living abroad the percentage of workers

(OFWs) was significantly higher than the Of the OFWs, 44.0% are men, making up 70% of the Filipinos

who depart from the nation and are married women with children. Noumenon is gradually altering the

dynamics of the Filipino family, and fathers must take on a new role when the wife is not around. Since

1989, the SAHFs have almost doubled globally and have reached their peak in 2010, shortly after the

official end of the recession. According to Livingston (2014), in the Philippines, both sexes have after

being impacted by the economic downturn, men have been disproportionately impacted as opposed to

their female equivalents. In the culture of the Philippines, the family has always been the most significant

social group in society. This is a collective opinion. of Filipinos that lays an unmatched emphasis on the
family (Jocano, 2012). From the standpoint of family systems, mothers and fathers possess individually

distinct and reciprocally engaging roles.

This study aims to describe the phenomenon of Filipino "househusbands" with migrant wives who belong

to the middle up to the lower classes of society and reside in rural areas, specifically in Tarlac,

Philippines. This study focuses on Filipino "househusbands" performing the housekeeper-nurturer role in

the family and how they perceive and practice that role from the viewpoint of their family members and

society. This study hopes to ensure that society values the experiences, performances, and perceptions of

the Filipino "househusbands" in the family. This will also tackle issues about the effect of roles to power

relations/ domination on the decision-making among the couple inside their family. Therefore, this study

analyzes how Filipino "househusbands" practice role reversal in their homes in the context of wives

working overseas. The limitation of the study is that the research is restricted to the discussion of the

issues and conditions of Filipino migrant wives in other countries. The study focuses on the conditions

and impact of the current situation on the family from the perspective of the left-behind husbands.

https://www.scribd.com/document/198722048/Househusbandry-in-the-Philippines

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?

hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=article+about+househusband+in+the+philippines&oq=article+about+househus

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Foreign
Stay-at-home fathers (SAHFs) are defined in different ways but are largely understood to be fathers who

are the primary caregiver for their children and are not in full-time paid employment (Stevens, 2015).

However, men's roles in the home underwent an even greater change. The biggest of these is the creation

of the role of stay-at-home husband. Although still a small minority in the United States, more men are

choosing to stay home and raise children than ever before. However, the roles of stay-at-home husband

are not mirror images of each other. Our recent research has shown that society's expectations and

subsequent judgments about men and women at home still differ dramatically. We explored the question

of how college residents view the role of homemaker and homemaker to determine if there are significant

differences in role expectations. As predicted, the role expectations of stay-at-home spouses were not the

same. Women questioned the current domestic role structure more than men. They saw tasks and

responsibilities as more flexible and rejected traditional role expectations. However, both men and

women had a negative attitude towards both roles, but the harshest assessment continued to go to the men

of the house. It was much more acceptable for a woman to take on the role of stay-at-home husband than

for a man to be a stay-at-home husband. We believe that our findings and those of other researchers who

have conducted similar studies are due to a more rigid understanding of male gender roles. Research has

repeatedly shown the negative consequences of intersex behavior. The influence of social expectations

and cultural values explains the current perceptions of both male and female stay-at-home parents. (Jost

and Banagi 2011); argument that all activity is sexual may also help explain why people feel

uncomfortable around men who step into the typically female role of staying at home and raising

children. Other explanations for the negative perception of both roles are also discussed. Suggestions for

changing these perceptions are also explored. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA.

Many fathers expected a return to work; the transient nature of the SAHF role likely reflects how

financial, hence external, factors influenced most fathers’ decision to become the primary caregiver. This

suggests that while societal expectations may have relaxed so that fathers were more comfortable taking
on the primary caregiving role, many still did not consider being a SAHF a permanent role in how

mothers have traditionally been expected to be long-term stay-at-home parents (Parke, 2013).

A clear theme to emerge from the fathers’ narratives was their navigation between the traditionally

masculine role of the breadwinner and the caring role they currently occupy as the more involved parent.

There may appear to be a contradiction that the fathers’ narratives showed a move away from traditional

masculinity and the continued influence of masculine norms. However, this highlights that the fathers’

negotiation of traditional and caring masculinities (Hunter et al., 2017) is ongoing. The finding that many

fathers wanted to remain primary caregivers suggests that they have taken on aspects of caring

masculinities as described by Elliott (2015) and supported by Lee and Lee (2018), and recognize the

benefits of embracing a caring identity, fathers in this study show that this is not a complete transition.

Societal pressures of traditional masculinity continue to influence fathers to want to contribute

financially. However, they balance this by considering what is best for their family, which may lead them

to the desire to work from home or part-time.

Concerning the apprehension some fathers expressed over returning to paid work, it is essential to note

that amongst fathers who did express worries, they did not refer to pay and career prospects after

caregiving, in contrast to Helford et al.’s (2012) research on SAHMs, perhaps referring to the well-

documented “motherhood pay gap” (Grimshaw & Rubery, 2015) and also the lack of opportunities for

career development once they have been a primary caregiver (Correll et al., 2017). Future research needs

to follow up with SAHFs after they have returned to work to understand what aspects of the transition

were challenging and to establish whether the pay and career gap for mothers is also present for SAHFs.

There are practical implications of these results; the findings that many fathers would prefer part-time or

flexible work and that some expressed worries over returning to the workplace suggest that researchers

and employers need to find ways to support fathers through a difficult transition. As it is less common for

fathers to work part-time (ONS, 2019), and research suggests that workplace culture encourages fathers to

prioritize work over caregiving (Haas & Hwang, 2019), it may be difficult for these fathers to find
suitable employment. Hence, employers need to provide more opportunities for parents through job-

sharing or other forms of part-time work. Furthermore, attention needs to be paid to how all primary

caregiver parents can feel supported upon their return to paid work after a period of caregiving, for

example, by having mentors to help them return to paid work.

More broadly, this study contributes to understanding how many couples, including SAHF families, seek

a more gender-egalitarian approach to sharing parenting and paid work. However, this process is still in

progress, and many challenges remain. Suppose men and women can be supported in this by policy and

social attitudes toward men in primary caregiving roles. In that case, highly involved fathers can be

crucial in addressing gender inequality in the UK. Another social shift that will be pertinent for

researchers to study over time is the increase in homeworking since the beginning of the COVID-19

pandemic. In the UK, the national lockdowns significantly increased homeworking, so it became the

norm for many couples. A UK-wide survey found that fathers benefitted from flexible working by

spending more time with their children (Chung et al., 2020). Chung et al. (2020) suggested that this will

have long-term implications for fathers and their desire for a better balance between work and care.

Hence, whether fathers are more involved parents because of becoming stay-at-home fathers or due to the

dramatic changes in work in 2020, it is likely that we will continue to observe widespread patterns of

gendered change in employment and childcare in the coming years. This possibility highlights critical

avenues for future research on fathers.

Gender Identity at Home: Comparing the Role of Househusband to Housewife. (apa.org)

Transitions Into and Out of Work: Stay-at-Home Fathers’ Thoughts and Feelings: A Brief Report -

Catherine Jones, Jasmine Wells, Susan Imrie, Susan Golombok, 2021 (sagepub.com)

SYNTHESIS
This study focuses on Filipino "househusbands" performing the housekeeper-nurturer role in the family

and how they perceive and practice that role from the viewpoint of their family members and society.

This study hopes to ensure that society values the experiences, performances, and perceptions of the

Filipino "househusbands" in the family.