Fathers find home role rewarding as moms follow career paths

Traditional Chinese society, like many others, was patriarchal: fathers were typically tasked with earning money and maintaining discipline in the family, while being less likely to assume the role of caregiver for their children.

This ancient social structure has undergone deep change in modern times as cultural values shift and economic development provides greater broad-based opportunity.

With the emergence of more women in demanding careers, a corresponding adjustment in gender roles is expected.

As these women become breadwinners for their families, it is reasonable to anticipate that their male partners, who may have less lucrative and less demanding careers, will take on more responsibilities of child care and even become stay-at-home dads.

Recently, the second season of a reality show that focuses on the lives of full-time dads and their daily experiences of caring for their families aired on the video-sharing platform Mango TV.

The show, Dad in Charge, aims to explore the significance of male roles in family education and promote positive parenting practices through a range of diverse parenting models.

It advocates for social and family support to help women balance work and childbirth, while encouraging men to actively participate in the responsibilities of child-rearing.

Its first season attained a stellar score of 8.3 out of 10 on the review site Douban.

"Each family featured in the program has their own approach to raising children, yet they all share a common thread of parental love," comments one reviewer.

"While watching the program, we, as the viewers, can feel a sense of warmth and empathy. And we can gain a better understanding of the shifting roles of men in contemporary families, and explore new ways to foster healthy family relationships and positive parenting practices."

The new season of the show spotlights four ordinary families. One father is actually a stay-at-home dad, while the others experience 100 days of acting as full-time dads during the filming.

Additionally, the program features professional educators and celebrity parents who come to observe and share parenting experiences with the fathers.

Korean American actor Nathan Lee Seung-hyun, who is husband of Chinese actress Qi Wei and has years of experience as a full-time dad, is among the celebrity guests.

He points out that parenting requires continuous adjustment of nurturing strategies to fit the child's personality and different stages of development.

Ming Aiqing, the show's producer, says that the first season had a good response among viewers, which made the selection of families for the second season much easier.

"When we were preparing for the first season, it took us more than six months to find families with stay-at-home dads. While there were many such families, they were hesitant to participate," she says.

For the second season, however, many fathers applied voluntarily, and the production team received more than 1,000 such applications within just three months.

Regarding family selection, the show's chief director Lan Di explains that they chose ordinary families who are relatively happy and have their own ideas about parenting and education.

"The four families featured in this season have completely different parenting styles, ranging from attentive care to free-range parenting. We hope that viewers can gain some inspiration by observing these diverse parenting approaches."