Just for Men (and for the women who want to sneak a look). If you find it interesting, do leave a comment and pass it on.
Fatherhood Under Siege
In recent years, fathers have been the focus of much criticism, portrayed as absent, disinterested, or neglectful parents. And yet it is not so long ago that men were being referred to as almost irrelevant, except as sperm donors, in the bold new world “liberated” from male dominance. Some small matters of human biology, survival, and sustainable society were evidently overlooked.
For decades, Family Law outcomes following separation have sidelined fatherhood, most frequently favouring motherhood—almost any kind of motherhood. Health and welfare services have reflected this bias by doing little to support or raise the profile of fathering. Workplace policies and culture certainly have not encouraged father-involvement within the family. But then neither has the ever-increasing expectation that men should provide liberally for their families by spending more time at work.
An irony of years of gender feminism is that many women now feel “disempowered” and resentful, because feminism has sometimes managed to devalue the option of homemaking, childrearing, and parenting, in favour of workforce participation. What was supposed to be a choice has become much more an obligation; one effect of which is that men are now also being told to spend less time at work and more time providing childcare.
Surprisingly, in spite of all this contradictoriness, most men have not only maintained a keen interest in fathering their children, but that interest has also significantly strengthened in recent decades. In the United Kingdom, for example, around 92% of men with dependent children are in employment, a higher rate than for men without dependent children [1]. At the same time, fathers have been devoting more time to hands-on care. Time-use data show that fathers’ average daily childcare time has risen substantially over the past half-century, from under 20 minutes per day in the early 1960s to around 70 minutes per day by the mid-2010s [2].
Australian fathers show a very similar pattern. Most remain in full-time employment after having children and many work very long hours – over 50 hours per week – yet they are also spending more time in direct care of their children [3]. Research from the Australian Institute of Family Studies indicates that, while fathers may take up flexible or home-working arrangements after the birth of a child, the number of hours they spend in paid work usually stays much the same as before children, even as they increase their involvement in childcare and other forms of family support [3, 4].
Studies of parental time use in both the UK and Australia show a consistent pattern: mothers still spend more time than fathers with their children, but fathers’ involvement has grown and is concentrated especially on evenings and weekends [2, 4]. In many families, fathers’ time is increasingly focused on interactive activities such as playing, reading, helping with homework, and taking children to sports or community events, while also providing crucial financial support.
How important is the role of fathers?
- Infants are capable of forming strong attachments to their fathers from the first months of life, and by around two years of age many children typically have similarly strong bonds with both fathers and mothers when both are consistently present and involved [5].
- Children growing up apart from their biological fathers are, on average, more likely to experience educational difficulties, including lower school achievement and a higher risk of dropping out of secondary education [6].
- A substantial body of research links father absence with higher rates of behavioural problems and delinquency among children and adolescents, including increased involvement in crime and anti-social behaviour [6, 7].
- Girls who grow up without their biological fathers are more likely to become sexually active at an earlier age and have a higher likelihood of teenage pregnancy outside marriage or stable partnership [6, 8].
- Father absence is associated with a greater risk of a range of mental health difficulties in children and young people, including higher levels of depression, anxiety, and behavioural problems [6, 9].
- Children deprived of their biological father are, on average, more likely to be exposed to abuse and neglect. Studies suggest that children living with their married biological parents have the lowest rates of maltreatment, whereas those living with a single parent and that parent’s partner, or in households with a non-biological father figure, face significantly higher risks of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse [7, 10].
- Fathers are not just an optional extra; they are essential to children’s healthy development and wellbeing. Yes, there are bad fathers, just as there are bad mothers. But the weight of evidence shows that, on average, children do best when they have ongoing, warm, and reliable relationships with both their mother and their biological father. Both mothers and fathers need, as never before, to be genuinely supported and valued—for their often different but deeply complementary contributions to family life.
References
[1] Office for National Statistics (2022). Families and the labour market, UK: 2021. London: ONS.
[2] University of Essex / Centre for Time Use Research (2023). Analysis of UK Time Use Survey data, 1961–2015, reported in “Worrying gap between time parents spend on childcare”.
[3] Baxter, J. (2019). Fathers and work: A statistical overview. Australian Institute of Family Studies.
[4] Baxter, J. (2014). Parental time with children. Australian Institute of Family Studies.
[5] Lamb, M. E. (2012). Mothers, fathers, families, and circumstances: Factors affecting children’s adjustment. Applied Developmental Science, 16(2), 98–111.
[6] McLanahan, S., Tach, L., & Schneider, D. (2013). The causal effects of father absence. Annual Review of Sociology, 39, 399–427.
[7] Kim, S. (2018). The effect of father’s absence, parental adverse events, and neighborhood disadvantage on children’s aggression and delinquency. Child Indicators Research, 11, 1747–1765.
[8] Ellis, B. J. et al. (2003). Does father absence place daughters at special risk for early sexual activity and teenage pregnancy? Child Development, 74(3), 801–821.
[9] East, L. et al. (2006). Father absence and adolescent development: A review of the literature. Journal of Child Health Care, 10(4), 283–295.
[10] Berger, L. M. et al. (2009). Child abuse and father figures: Which kind of families are safest for children? Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study; and National Incidence Study of Child Abuse and Neglect (NIS-4).