Father Involvement – Where are we, and where do we need to go?
Dr. James Brown – Clinical Psychologist, father of four, and Fatherhood Researcher
Having completed my PhD on the topic of fatherhood, I thought I would share some insights I gained from delving into the literature of fathers and the importance of their involvement to child development. Over the last few decades, western societal views on fatherhood have demonstrated a shift from the more emotionally detached, authoritarian figure, to one whose role is more involved in the nurturing of children. Society now has expectations on the modern father to be more caring and emotionally available to his children. This is reflected in the attitudes of an increasing number of fathers reporting the desire to be more involved in the lives of their children, rejecting the idea of being relegated to the traditional role of provider only, and wanting to share childrearing more equitably with mothers. Common activities that today’s fathers often reported to be engaged in with their children are care giving, play or social activities, guidance or teaching, and emotional support.
This change in attitudes towards greater father involvement is welcome news to children. Fathers who are more involved with their children, particularly through ‘rough and tumble play’, contribute to the development of children who are often better able to regulate their own emotions and possess better social skills and self-control. Fathers' involvement in child rearing can have a large impact on the long-term development of children and has been found to predict positive outcomes for children in later life. Well-adjusted adults tend to come from families where the father was involved in their upbringing. Children from homes with a supportive father present tend to perform better academically, and has been correlated with lower depression, reduced conduct problems, and lower substance abuse issues. Father involvement should be considered a protective factor for children that aids in the development of resilience and mitigates against certain psychological and social risks in adulthood.
Given the positive outcomes of father involvement, research has endeavoured to establish what factors predict the level of fathers' involvement with their children. First, the characteristics of the child, such as gender and birth order, have an influence on the level of father involvement. The positive attributes of the child, such as the child's temperament, also lead to greater involvement of the father. Second, characteristics of the mother influence the level of fathers' involvement. Fathers tend to be more involved with children if the mother is educated, involves herself with the children, is employed outside the home, or is older than the father. Marital (or relationship) harmony is also likely to lead to increased levels of involvement on the part of the father. Lastly, characteristics of fathers themselves, such as age, engagement in employment, and higher education, as well as knowledge, attitudes, and skills in parenting, predict the level of involvement with their children.
Despite the positive impacts of an involved father on his offspring, rates of father absence and low involvement in child rearing responsibilities are a great concern. Researchers have attempted to better understand what factors present as hindrances to father involvement. Certainly, rates of divorce and subsequent estrangement of fathers from their children is well documented. Children are also born into fatherless homes for numerous reasons, with the burden of care falling on single mothers. However, fathers being physically present in the home of their children doesn’t always translate to higher levels of involvement. In fact, although fathers are reporting to be spending more hours with their children compared to previous generations, they are still lagging when compared to mothers even in dual income families. Mothers are still carrying the lion share of domestic labour in western society.
Barriers to fathers’ involvement in parenting are often reported to be workload, time pressures, and the pressures of earning an income. Relative family size itself impacts on fathers' involvement, with fathers of larger families are often less involved with their children, perhaps due to increased financial pressure. Other characteristics including fathers mental health, attitudes regarding their role as fathers, religious activity, and use of social support also come to bear on their level of involvement in parenting.
Further exploration is required as to how men might be able to make further shifts in the uptake of responsibilities to better share the burdens of family care with their partners. Many western countries have embarked on social policy changes to increase fathers’ participation in childcare, such as paid parenting leave. The Scandinavian region boast some of the most progressive social policies designed to bring about a more egalitarian model of parenting, and to increase father involvement in shared parenting. Sweden in particular has probably the best paid parenting scheme in the world. The Swedish policy recognizes both parents as having equal and important roles in child development, while also supporting the dual income model, allowing for both partners to pursue their career aspirations. While the success of this scheme should be applauded, there has not been a rapid uptake by fathers, with research finding that 90% of fathers are only using a very small proportion of what they are entitled to. Swedish mothers are the main users of this leave and are still predominantly seen as the main carers for their infants. Scotland has had a similar experience, where paid parental leave legislation has been in place since 2015 yet follow up studies have found only 1 in 10 fathers are participating in the scheme. Investigations into the uptake of paid parental leave by fathers across a number of countries has indicated that social and company attitudes, the financial circumstances of parents, and the prevailing model of mothers as primary carer, are the main influencing factors.
Workplace legislation is one very important step towards a shared model of parenting, but social change in attitudes towards involvement of fathers in the lives of their children still has a long way to go. Legislation doesn’t occur in a vacuum, and for any policy to effect change it must influence shifts in attitudes within the homes, where decisions regarding parenting are actually occurring. Conversations between couples regarding their decisions to have children, how they intend to provide care for their children, while also catering for the individuals’ career aspirations and needs, are pivotal. We need to better understand these conversations, and how we might assist parents in making what might feel like ground-breaking changes to the way they share the roles of parenting and providing. If these decision-making processes are steeped in gender stereotypes and role expectations, the status quo will continue and any well intended legislation will languish.
Finally, our societal narrative around fathers needs to evolve from terms that keep men in a place of secondary or apprentice parent to mothers, who are still often view as the primary or lead parent, to an equitable coparenting model whose strengths and weakness combine to provide an optimal environment for child development. Certainly, contemporary fathers are more readily adopting the view that they are as equally capable to parent as mothers and showing a greater willingness to show up in the parenting space. New fathers entering the transition to parenting period can be especially supported and nurtured to adopt a sense of competence and confidence in their role as fathers, which can endure for the entirety of the coparenting journey with mothers, for the benefit of their children and greater equity and harmony in their homes.
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Recommended Resources:
The Fathering Project - Home - The Fathering Project