The Facts Are In. Fathers Are Changing; Family Life is Improving

I've sworn off apologizing for these stretches where life get nuts and I drop off the blogging map, but I need to catch my breath enough to point you to this preview of research dropping today from Scott Coltrane on how fathers are changing and how that improves life for everyone. "Working Dad" Paul Nyhan from the Seattle P-I has the scoop:

Over the past four decades, dads have taken on a lot more at home. The time they spend on child care and housework has doubled, according to the paper scheduled for release Thursday.

It is this progress, not absolute parity, which matters because it offers proof of a deep change within American families, the paper's co-author Scott Coltrane said.

"There is an accumulation of evidence over the last decade for people to have successful couple relationships they need to negotiate, whereas before they could let it ride ... and the mother would pick it up," Coltrane, a sociology professor at the University of California-Riverside, said.