- The State of the Modern Family - The Millennium Cohort Survey (MCS) (March 2007) Find out more
- British Dads are Europe's most playful - research (Spring 2006) Read more
- Dads and their babies; the mother's perspective - research from the Equal Opportunities Commission (October 2005). More
- Fathers' involvement in early years settings - research from the Pre-School Learning Alliance (April 2005) Find out more
- Dads on Dads - by Warren Hatten, Louise Vinter and Rachel Williams (Autumn 2002) Find out more
- Father involvement and Literacy - research. More
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The State of the Modern Family is an analysis of the Millennium Cohort Survey (MCS) and other recent research to identify key trends in the shape and behaviour of new families in the 21st century. Below are extracts relevant to dads and fatherhood.
A social revolution in fatherhood is taking place.
The MCS illustrates how crucial fathers' roles and behaviour are to their children's development. This comes in the midst of a social revolution in fatherhood, when dads report feeling as confident at caring as their partners and want to spend more time with their children. Family policy must therefore look at the roles and needs of both parents if it is to fully benefit children. The MCS found that developmental problems at age three were more common where the father took no time off at the birth of the child or did not use flexible working. Millennium dads were heavily involved with their three-year-old children; half read to them daily and over three-quarters played with them daily. The EOC report Dads and their Babies found that 4 out of 5 new fathers said they would be happy to stay at home and look after their baby. 70% of new dads want to spend more time with their children. In 2005, only 44% of mothers with babies believed that women are naturally better than men at childcaring.
Both parents want time off with the baby
Income was a crucial factor in determining how much paid time off millennium families had with their babies. In poorer families, mothers returned to work earlier and dads had less access to paternity leave. New rights to longer paid maternity leave and paid paternity leave have reduced this divide, but many dads in low-income families are still unable to afford time off. The MCS found that in 2001, 49% of mothers employed in semi-skilled or unskilled occupations returned to work within three months of the birth compared to 28% of mothers in managerial and professional occupations. 80% of dads took time off around the birth of their child. Dads and their Babies found that in 2005, two years after new entitlements to paid leave came into force, 90% of mothers took at least six months leave while 94% of dads in work took time off around the birth of their child. 76% of working dads in high-income families took at least two weeks leave compared to 64% of dads in low-income families. Despite having less access to family-friendly policies, the MCS found that low-income fathers were more likely to use flexible working where it is available and recent research shows they are keener to use additional paternity leave.
(The State of the Modern Family)
To view the full report visit www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/state_of_modern_family.pdf
Sure Start magazine reported on research commissioned by Persil which showed that British dads spend more time playing with their children than dads in Europe. The article highlighted that the research revealed dads spend eight hours a week playing with their children which is equivalent to a full day at work. According to the research this was twice as much as French fathers and also more than Dutch and Swiss fathers.
It was also reported that the research showed the British dad's favourite pastime is playing with their children. Seven out of ten dads wished they could devote more time to playing with their children.
(Sure Start magazine, Spring 2006)
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