Parents' Week 2010
Six weeks to go before the 11th annual Parents' Week! Register now for your free, limited edition copy of our Knowing Families book.
More
Family Policy Digest
The Family Policy Digest lets you know about key events and publications over the last month across Government, the voluntary sector and the research community. It enables you to track the progress of legislation and debate on family policy.
Register to receive news of updates.
To search for areas of interest or specific words use the search box below. Entering a month and year will enable you to see past copies of the digest.
Digest articles that match keyword/s 'fathers'
Found 21 results.
Family relationships (6)
Fatherhood Commission
Children's Society
The Commission, set up by the Children's Society, aims to gather evidence from a range of children, professionals and the general public, to present a child centred case for the importance of fatherhood. It is committed to representing the views of a diverse range of children, especially those who have little or no contact with their fathers. The project hopes to be able to identify, understand and raise awareness of the barriers to father-child relationships and to produce a set of recommendations about how they might be removed.
The Commission has issued a call for evidence from children, experts, and the general public. Details of this can be found on the Society's website.
The Commission has released research examining the links between young people's relationships with their fathers and their mothers, and their well-being and self-esteem.
The report can also be downloaded from the Society's website.
June 2010
Understanding fathering: masculinity, diversity and change
H Hauari et al; Joseph Rowntree Foundation
This was a study of fathers and fatherhood in modern Britain, focusing on 29 two-parent families across four ethnic groups in England: Pakistani, White British, Black Caribbean and Black African.
The report is available from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website .
September 2009Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act given Royal Assent
Key elements of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 include:
- Same-sex couples are recognised as legal parents of children conceived through the use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos. This recognises, for example, the civil partner of a woman who carries a child via IVF as the child's legal parent.
- Replacing the current legal requirement upon fertility clinics to consider 'the need for a father' with the requirement that they must consider 'the need for supportive parenting'.
- Sex selection of offspring for non-medical reasons is banned. Sex selection is only allowed for medical reasons - for example to avoid a serious disease.
The Act is available from the OPSI website.
The difference a dad makes
Fatherhood Institute
This short report from the Fatherhood Institute (formerly Fathers Direct) summarises research showing the benefits that involved fatherhood brings. It highlights the importance of involving fathers before the birth, more parental leave and making flexible working for fathers easier. It also calls for childcare not to be discouraged as a career choice for boys, and for the needs of vulnerable fathers: young fathers, young offenders and disabled fathers, to be met.
The report is available from the Fatherhood Institute website.
January 2008Understanding fatherhood
C Lewis and M Lamb; Joseph Rowntree Foundation
This report summarises current thinking about the nature of contemporary fatherhood, and looks at some of the new research methods that have been used to examine it. It calls for more research on under-studied groups such as non-resident fathers, stepfathers and non-white fathers.
The report can be downloaded from the JRF website..
August 2007Consultation on joint birth registration
A Green Paper from the Department of Work and Pensions, 'Joint Birth Registration: promoting parental responsibility', proposes that the naming of the father on birth certificates should be compulsory. The exceptions would be where the mother:
- does not know, or is not clear about, who is the father of her child;
- does not know where the father of her child is;
- alleges that the man claiming paternity is not the father of her child
- alleges that a father is, or could become, violent or abusive;
- alleges that the child was conceived as a result of rape or incest;
or where the man alleges that he is not the child's father. In these cases, if either parent wants to continue to pursue joint registration, the matter would be decided by the courts.
The consultation is available from the DWP website and the closing date for responses is 25 September 2007.
June 2007 Family services (8)
'Both parents matter'
Parentline Plus
This report is based on analysis of men's use of the Parentline Plus helpline and website and on focus groups. Separation or divorce is identified as a key time when fathers are likely to seek help but find it difficult to find help that meets their needs. The belief that asking for help is a sign of failure affects men more than women, and parent to parent services targeted at fathers are valuable.
The report can be downloaded from the Parentline Plus website.
June 2009A review of how fathers can be better recognised and supported through DCSF policy
Department for Children, Schools and Families
This review found that recognition of fathers was highest in 'top level' policy documents such as Green and White papers, policy statements and reviews and strategy papers and policy documents relating to 'workforce and service delivery'. This mostly related to particular services such as children's centres, schools and teenage pregnancy services. However, most local authorities did not appear to have taken a strategic lead on supporting fathers in family services in their area. Barriers and enablers to engaging with fathers were identified.
The report is available from the DCSF website.
November 2008Maternal and infant health in the perinatal period: the father's role
A Burgess; Fatherhood Institute
This literature review summarises the evidence for the benefits where maternity services involve fathers. These include improving the father's interaction with and care of the baby, the suppport they provide mothers, reducing both parents' alcohol consumption and smoking, supporting breastfeeding and avoiding depression in fathers as well as mothers.
It is published alongside a campaign report 'The Dad deficit', which calls for specific changes to be made to maternity services to include fathers.
Both reports can be downloaded from the Fatherhood Institute website.
April 2008Father-inclusive practice and associated professional competencies
Richard Fletcher; Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse
This briefing paper reviews the literature on father involvement with their children, from an Australian and international perspective. It focuses on fathers' involvement with family services, and the characteristics of practitioners that may help or hinder this.
The briefing is available from the Australian Institute of Family Studies website.
March 2008Developing father-inclusive parenting strategies
Fatherhood Institute
The Fatherhood Institute and the Department for Children, Schools and Families have produced this checklist to support the development of father-inclusive local parenting strategies, based on previous statements in the Children's Plan and other documents such as Every Parent Matters.
It can be downloaded from the Fatherhood Institute website (click here for a direct link).
February 2008Barriers to inclusion and successful engagement of parents in mainstream services
I Katz, V La Placa and S Hunter; Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The primary focus of this review is on research evidence addressing the barriers that parents face in engaging with mainstream support services, and the ways that services have successfully responded to overcoming those barriers. It notes that there is a lack of research in this area and that practice guidance is often based on 'common sense'. In addition, it seems that parents whom services find 'hard to reach' (such as asylum seekers, disabled parents, fathers, and black and minority ethnic parents) have also tended to be 'hard to reach' for researchers.
The report can be downloaded from the JRF website..
August 2007Including New Fathers: A Guide for Maternity Professionals
Fathers Direct
This guide for maternity professionals sets out the reasons why involving fathers is important, and the steps that can be taken to ensure that they are included before, during and after the birth.
The guide can be downloaded from the Fathers Direct website.
June 2007Supporting Young Fathers: Examples of Promising Practice
N Sherrif; Trust for the Study of Adolescence
This research, commissioned by the Teenage Pregnancy Unit, draws together examples of 'good practice' of current work with young fathers from around England.
The executive summary can be downloaded and the full report ordered from the Trust for the Study of Adolescence website.
January 2007 General (2)
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990
HFEA
The revised Act is the single greatest change to affect the UK fertility sector in nearly two decades. The changes brought in by the revised Act, with effect from 1st October2009, include: donor conceived people and donors will have greater rights of access to information about their donor, their siblings or the children born as a result of their donation. Children conceived by egg or sperm donation will have the chance to find their biological siblings once they turn 18 if they both consent. Other changes which will come into effect with the new legislation include: increasing the length of time people can store their embryos; a 'cooling off' period if one partner withdraws consent for embryo storage; banning sex selection for non medical reasons, and; allowing female civil partners to be registered as the legal parents.
Details of the changes can be found on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority website.
October 2009Final Report from Treasury policy review
'Aiming high for children: supporting families' is the final document from the Children and Young People Treasury policy review covering two strands of the review: prevention and 'families caught in a cycle of low achievement' (previously called 'high cost, high harm families'). The remaining two strands, young people and disabled children, will report later in Spring 2007.
The report details how DfES resources announced in the Budget will be spent, including:
- additional funding through children's centres to support outreach and provide parenting classes for up to 30,000 parents with a particular emphasis on fathers.
- a new universal integrated system of advice and support for parents, building on Parentline Plus.
- £13 million over the Comprehensive Spending Review period for pathfinders to develop good models of delivering services for families with severe multiple problems.
- free extended activities for children eligible for Free School Meals.
The report can be downloaded from the HM Treasury website.
March 2007 Schools (1)
Why fathers matter to their children's literacy
C Clark; National Literacy Trust
This paper briefly summarises the findings from the field of father involvement that also address the issue of children's literacy practices. Since the literature on father involvement and children's literacy outcomes is limited with significant knowledge gaps, the focus of the paper has been broadened to encompass evidence regarding father involvement and general child outcomes.
The report is available from the National Literacy Trust website
July 2009 Work and the family (3)
Think Fathers: How flexible working for Dads can work for your business
Department for Children, Schools and Families and DWP
As announced in 'Support for All – the Families and Relationships Green Paper', this booklet highlights the social and economic benefits to employers and employees of implementing flexible working and other family-friendly policies for fathers and:
- sets out a range of case studies of father and family-friendly practices from different sized companies and sectors
- provides some top tips on implementing family-friendly working practices.
The booklet can be downloaded from the DCSF website.
March 2010Working Better: Fathers, family and work - contemporary perspectives
EHRC
The report's key findings are that many British fathers are working long hours, struggling to balance work and family and fear that requesting flexible working will damage their careers. British men want to take a more active role in caring for their children. But four in 10 fathers say they spend too little time with their children. Forty-five per cent of men fail to take two weeks' paternity leave after the birth of their child with the most common reason provided being because they can't afford to. Two in five men fear that asking for flexible working arrangements would result in their commitment to their job being questioned and would negatively affect their chances of a promotion. It argues that flexibility represents an opportunity for employers to gain a competitive advantage in recruitment, as two in three fathers consider the availability of flexible working to be important when looking for a new job.
The report can be downloaded from the EHRC website.
October 2009International review of leave policies and related research 2008
P Moss and M Korintus (eds); Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
This report reviews leave policies in 25 countries, mainly focusing on maternity and paternity leave and parental leave (leave which can be taken by either parent). Leave entitlements vary widely between countries in the length of leave, the rate at which it is paid and the conditions which are placed upon it. The report also contains papers by experts present at the October 2007 seminar of the international network on leave policy and research, on issues including fathers' uptake of parental leave.
The report is available from the BERR websire.
July 2008 Young people (1)
Teenage Pregnancy: Improving Outcomes for Teenage Parents and their Children
Department for Children, Schools and Families
This updated strategy aims to improve outcomes for teenage parents and their children in three main areas: child health outcomes, economic well-being, and the emotional health and well-being of teenage mothers.
It provides guidance for local authorities and primary care trusts on the services which should be provided, focusing on midwifery and health-visiting services, Children's Centres and Targeted Youth Support services. The importance of supporting young fathers as well as mothers is stressed. The strategy also includes supporting teenage mothers to access and use contraception effectively after the birth of their first child.
The report is available to download from the Every Child Matters website.
July 2007Design:This Way Up
Powered by:ThinkAdmin
Family and Parenting Institute is the operating name of the National Family and Parenting Institute (NFPI). NFPI is a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales. Registered company number: 3753345. Registered Charity No: 1077444. VAT Registration No. 833 0243 65. Registered Address: 430 Highgate Studios, 53-79 Highgate Road, London, NW5 1TL