(Courtesy photo via Voxxi.com)
The culture of divorce has become the norm in today’s society. With that, the number of single Hispanic fathers is rising, but they have become more involved in their children’s lives than ever.
According to a report from Voxxi.com, single Hispanic fathers are adapting to their role as an emotional — in addition to financial — provider.
“The ‘machismo’ prevalent for years is waning, and since divorce is more widespread than ever, many single Hispanic dads are now fighting to gain more custody of their children,” the report said.”They miss their kids and want to be more involved, as hard as it might be to juggle work and parenting.”
LifeSiteNews.com reported that in the past 50 years, the number of children who live in single-parent homes has nearly doubled. While historically primary custody has been typically granted to the mother, fathers are fighting for more time with their kids, rather than just weekends and weekly visit.
Matthew Weinshenker, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Fordham University, chalked up the single dad trend to shifts in cultural norms and how fathers are now more openly encouraged to be actively involved with their children.
“More men are interested in raising their children as best they can in the event of a divorce or the breakup. Today, family courts, which didn’t often grant custody to fathers in the past, are more willing to consider a single father as a primary parent. They may even award full custody to the father,” he told The New York Times.
Voxxi.com author Laura Carbonell recalled how when she was growing up, she was the daughter of a single dad.
“My own father did it years ago and people were shocked to see a single father raising his children alone. Divorce was seen as shameful, and a father taking his girls was unthinkable,” she wrote. “He was ahead of his time, a trendsetter for future single Hispanic dads. . .”
And for that, she is “incredibly proud.”