As traditional gender roles were questioned and the number of working women increased, the “house husband” emerged as a phenomenon, especially in urban, intellectual middle-class circles. While the wife pursued her career and earned the family income, the husband tended to the household and took care of the children. Only few men chose the role of house husband out of conviction; for most, unemployment—resulting from job loss or for other reasons—was the driving force behind a gender-role reversal. For the most part, house husbands remained rare though.