Working Better: Fathers, Family and Work - Contemporary Perspectives

U.K fathers' attitudes towards parenting do not appear to match the reality of their work and care arrangements.

Category	Parenting and Childcare: Fathers
Details	In summer 2008, the Equality and Human Rights Commission launched ‘Working Better’, a new policy initiative to explore how we can match the aspirations of employees with the needs of employers. The Working Better project is aimed at setting a new agenda to meet the changing needs of families, workers and employers in the 21st century. Its purpose is to find solutions that will increase choice, fairness and equality for parents, carers, disabled people, young people and older workers. This short report focuses on fathers and their experiences of and attitudes towards work and care. The findings from this survey show that fathers’ attitudes towards parenting do not appear to match the reality of their work and care arrangements. Their rejection of traditional views, dissatisfaction with the time they spend with their children and their strong support for extended paternity leave shows a willingness to be involved in the day-to-day care of their children. In practice, however, most fathers still work full time, and many work long hours. A significant minority of fathers are working flexibly and enjoying the benefits that this brings to their family lives. From these fathers and from those who are not as fortunate, there are clear messages about what they would like to see in terms of improving their work-family balance: greater flexibility in the workplace, longer and better paid paternity leave, and greater flexibility for fathers and their partners to decide what works best for them.
Author	Equality and Human Rights Commission
Publication Date	October 2009
Source	www.equalityhumanrights.com
Format	PDF
Availability	Download the report: Working Better: Fathers, family and work – contemporary perspectives
Related Links	Visit What's New with Fathers on our site.