Thomas Duggins, Trainee Solicitor
'To be a successful father . . . there's one absolute rule: when you have a kid, don't look at it for the first two years' - Ernest Hemingway
After the birth of his fourth child, Tony Blair was famously photographed outside Downing Street in casual attire, chatting informally about being a new father whilst holding a mug emblazoned with a picture of his young family. His successor Gordon Brown has maintained this openness about domestic matters and spoken frequently of his desire to be directly involved in the care of his two young children. In the Donald Dewer Memorial Lecture in 2006 Mr Brown spoke of the need for a ‘fathers revolution’ which would see more fathers becoming involved in their children’s care.
Such public statements on domestic issues would have been unheard of twenty years ago, particularly in the staid world of politics. Brown and Blair’s open declaration of affection signals a marked shift in the role that fathers play in the raising of children. A recent review of Millennium Cohort statistics by the Equal Opportunity Commission (EOC) confirms the extent of this change. The EOC report, titled ‘Fathers and the Modern Family’ provides an insight into the extent to which the historical role of the mother as main carer and provider of domestic education is becoming replaced with a routine of shared care. The report contrasts current parental practices with father’s aspirations, which it finds are often frustrated by economic realities.
Expectations surrounding the roles of mothers and fathers can be seen as a complex combination of deeply entrenched historical concepts based on gender and the biological reality of the mother as the bearer of the child. Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation in the 19th century bought parent’s roles into sharp focus as factory labour divided the work place from the home and domestic sphere. Long and arduous working days made the father a distant figure and the concept of the father as the dispenser of discipline was reinforced and promulgated as being a natural extension of their control over the family.
The latter part of the 20th century was a period of unprecedented social and economic change in Britain. When launching his five-year ‘war on crime’ in 2004 Tony Blair stated that the current lack of ‘respect’ in society could be attributed to the social revolution which began in the 1960s. Whether a force for good or bad, many modern fathers were bought up in this period and have discarded the stiff roles that their grandparents had assumed in favour of a more relaxed and child centred way of raising their offspring.
In combination with this, the decline of heavy industry in the 1980s, the rise of the service economy and increased employment amongst mothers has challenged perceptions of the father as the provider for the family. In 2006 the employment rate for married and cohabiting mothers was 71.4 per cent.
The above changes have all contributed towards the redefining of the role that parents play in the family. The EOC report offers a neat quantification of this change in the form of statistics.
The EOC found that just over 50% of fathers reported reading to their three-year-old child daily and 77% of fathers in full time employment played with their child daily. Interestingly, fathers educated to degree level and in full time work read to their children more regularly than those with lesser qualifications, suggesting that the increased participation of father in early education is very much a middle class phenomenon.
However, women are still the predominant providers of actual day-to-day care, particularly in times of increased need such as illness. Contrary to the findings on play and education, the lower socio-economic groups were more likely to divide responsibility for care between parents than professional parents were. 53% of fathers shared responsibility for care in lower socio-economic groups.
91% of fathers were employed and their income was crucial to keeping the family out of poverty. However, mothers and fathers both worked in 42% of families with a child ages 9-10 months old, suggesting that the role of mothers is no longer restricted to that of carer alone. The report pointed to the conflict between fathers wanting to spend more time with their child in the period after birth and the need for them to work at a time when they often provided the families only income. 63% of fathers who worked full time did not feel that they spent enough time with their 9-10 month old baby.
The past decade has seen several developments in employment law to allow greater flexibility to fathers in the care of their children. Fathers are currently entitled to:
- Paid paternity leave of two weeks when their child is born.
There are various conditions which must be fulfilled in order to qualify for paternity leave: the father must have worked for his employer for 41 weeks or more, be the child’s natural father, be living with or married to the mother, be responsible for bringing up the child and earn at least £87.00 a week. Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) is currently set at £112.75.
- Flexible working hours.
Fathers with a child under the age of six have the right to ask their employers for flexible working hours. Whilst the employer must consider any request, there is no obligation to agree to it. This right applies equally to mothers.
- Parental leave.
Fathers with a child under five years old have the right to take 13 weeks unpaid leave to look after them. In order to qualify, the employee must have worked for their employer for a period of over one year.
The EOC report suggests that reforms in this area have not gone far enough. SPP is set at such a low rate that for most families it is not economically feasible for the father to take two weeks off work. The report also suggests that the persistence of the widely held assumption that mothers are responsible for the care of children prevents fathers from asking their employers for flexible hours and paternal leave. Employers were far more likely to refuse flexible working to fathers than to mothers.
The EOC recommends greater financial support to families around the time of birth to allow fathers - particularly the self-employed or those in low wage jobs – the opportunity to spend more time with their new child. It also recommends a change in cultural attitudes towards the roles played by parents, and a greater acceptance of fathers as the care providers in both the work place and in child services. The report points to the fact that Health Visitors only visit the mother after the birth, rather than both of the parents as evidence that services are too mother-centric.
Whilst the increased participation of fathers in the care of their children may lead to personal satisfaction, does the involvement of a father actually have an impact on the well being of the child? The evidence collected by the EOC suggests that it does. Families in which the father does not contribute to domestic work, was not present at the birth or has depression all present a greater risk of developmental problems. In addition children whose fathers are unemployed also have an increased chance of developmental problems.
The report does not explore why children of absent or unemployed fathers may suffer developmental problems, but simply links the two phenomena. Government policies from John Major’s ‘Back to Basics’ campaign to recent Labour initiatives to get single mothers back into work have focused on the economic cost of absent fathers and the effect of poverty on children.
Recent debate has considered the importance of a male role model for children, and not simply seeing the father as an additional income. In a speech in February 2007 the Conservative leader David Cameron linked a spate of gang related shootings in south London to the lack of role models for young people and called for fathers to be compelled to take a greater role in their children’s lives. The recent Social Justice Policy Group report ‘Breakthrough Britain’ places a great emphasis on marriage as the basis for social cohesion and progress, with particular reference to children.
The EOC report does not paint such a bleak picture of single-parenthood. The statistics showed that the majority of absent fathers were still in contact with their children. Whilst inevitably non-resident fathers were less involved in the care of children than resident fathers, 1 in 8 employed lone mothers used the father for care. Being present at the birth and having the father’s name on the birth certificate provided strong indicators that he would be involved in the child’s life.
The EOC found that absent fathers who were on friendly terms with their ex-partner played a more active role in their child’s upbringing. It is proposed that separated parents be given access to relationship support to encourage friendly relations for the benefit of children.
The report paints a picture of a gradual change in the role assumed by fathers. There is a disparity between the extent that fathers would like to be involved with their children and the economic reality of having to earn an income, despite the fact that more mothers are now working. The lingering perception of the mother as being the main carer has also been found to frustrate efforts to engage more fathers in caring for their child.
For further information contact a member of the Family & Divorce Law team or call 020 7940 4000.
