3 News 16 June 2013
A recent Associated Press-WE TV poll found more than 8 in 10 men said they have always wanted to be fathers or think they\’d like to be one someday.
Debates about the different ways women approach motherhood dominate news coverage about parenthood these days, with fathers\’ experiences often left unexamined.
A look at what the poll found on how men view fatherhood, and the changes it has brought for those who have become dads:
BECOMING A DAD
About 8 in 10 fathers surveyed said they always knew they wanted to have children, compared with about 7 in 10 mothers, and 69 percent of dads called that long-standing desire to have children an important factor in their decision to have kids.
Dads were more likely than mums in the poll to say they saw positive effects from fatherhood on their love life and career, and they are just as likely as mums to say it improved their overall happiness, sense of accomplishment and sense of purpose.
When weighing whether to become a parent, mothers and fathers placed similar levels of importance on where they stood in their career and the impact having kids might have on their social life, and like mothers, saw having found the right person to have a child with and the joy of having children as the most important considerations.
MARRIED, WITH KIDS
Three-quarters of dads said they were married when their first child was born. Among those men who aren\’t married and who would like to have children, about one-quarter say they would consider having or adopting a child without a partner, though 88 percent within this group say they do want to get married someday.
http://www.3news.co.nz/Poll-Most-men-aspire-to-be-dads/tabid/420/articleID/301651/Default.aspx