Proud To Be a Household Father

When you hear the term father of the household, what perception comes to our minds? The presumption that, home father is a father who does not work or unemployment, is still often the perception of most people. But as with a housewife, who can have a profession and work from inside the house, as well as a household father.

Household fathers trends are increasingly common among Indonesian families. In the framework of the 2019 National Father’s Day, IBCWE collaborated with Danone Indonesia, trying to review this trend through the show “proud to be a household father”, held 15 November 2019, in the Cyber 2 building, with Nucha Bachri speakers Co-Founder of Parentalk.id, Geraldo Oryza, from the community of Mr. Rangkul, and Widodo Sugiman as the father of household practitioners.

Most people also still carry the burden of sharing a father’s obligation as a breadwinner and mother as a domestic burden manager inside the house. The business of homework until the problem of caring for the child is always pierced to the mother’s shoulders. Father’s presence in child growth is as important as the presence of a mother.

VP HR Danone, Mrs. Mira Sutjipto, is one example of a child who grew up in a family environment with the presence of the father as a household father. To him the household father is not strange, because father and mother is a team, “because… Marriage It’s all about partnership. ”

Similarly, Maya Juwita, Executive Director of IBCWE expressed the trend of household fathers is not unusual especially for future generations in the present and future, “for millennials, the trend of household fathers is not extreme anymore !”

Home dad trends are not a new thing. The US Census Bureau in 2005 recorded the number of father households in the US reaching 98 thousand people. Up to 2018, approaching the number 2 million people. In 1989 at least 10% of father in the US became a stay at home dads. In Indonesia alone, the trend of household fathers still reap the pros and cons, conservative thinking about the concept of the responsibilities of fathers and mothers in a family, supported by cultural factors, customs and religion.

However, this trend is being accepted in Indonesia, with the advent of the household fathers, one of the communities of Bapak Rangkul. Geraldo Oryza as a member of the community of Bapak Rangkul who has been a household father for 8 years, also told him that his choice of being a household father did not make him unemployed. Advances in technology support the creation of various professions that can be done from the home. So, a father can be in the house to help mother’s work. “Our Emang is a millennial generation, the profession is kind. Instead I find many fathers who are anterin cubs of school and they all have a job. ”

In line with Geraldo, Nucha Bachri Co-Founder Parentalk.id argues, “Father of the household is the same as housewife. If the housewife should be empowered, it would be better if the father of the household is also empowered, can do something useful. ”

Not only about the question of family breadwinners, the presence of a father also has a positive impact in the growth of children. The study of the recovered Foundation said the child who was raised by his father can gain high school performance, develop healthy children’s social skills, foster confidence and sense of safety in children, suppress psychological problems in children and become Example for the child to appreciate the spouse so as to avoid occurrence of domestic VIOLENCE on children’s future lives.

This is what the perceived Widodo Sugiman, although only a year more as a household father but became the father of the household, has become his dream since long time ago. The many moments of childhood development that he could not see, was the strongest reason for him. The wife’s decision to pursue a study abroad was the best time for her to become a household father. When many people doubt the ability of a father to take care of a child, he sees his children’s school achievements increasingly increasing. “The father of the household does not make a child’s achievement, as long as the husband and wife can communicate with each other.”, said Widodo.

As the importance of a mother’s role and presence, so does a father, in a family. Sharing roles both domestically or in a living, can be done together as far as communication and mutual agreement.

-Happy National Father’s Day-

Writer : Joan Natasya Lambe