He didn't care much about imposed gender roles. He was open minded and only wanted for Scout to be happy and to be a good person. He didn't mind if she behaved like boys did as long as she grew up to be a good person who helps others and is compassionate. This is opposed to the beliefs of her Aunt which believes that Scout should not behave as she is behaving and that she should wear dresses and learn manners like a lady and be more lady-like, as she describes it. Atticus doesn't care about things like this and cares about Scout's upbringing as a person more.
Answer:
It was basically a way of payment to come to America. They would put in very hard work for the next 7 YEARS in order to pay for just one ticket on the ship from Europe.