Work and family pressures put modern superdads under strain, says report

Fathers are not receiving the support and recognition that they need to combine the role of breadwinner with an active part in home life with their families, according a new study funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

The research finds that fathers, mothers and their teenage children are overwhelmingly convinced that the main contribution men can make to their families is providing an income. This ‘traditional’ view of ‘providing’ fathers and ‘caring’ mothers is deeply entrenched among young people as well as their parents.

But it also highlights ways that men are involved in their families that tend to go unrecognised. A ‘taxi’ service to and from daily activities, informal sports coaching and an opponent for computer games are examples of the interactions that routinely take place between today’s fathers and teenagers. Some parents claimed the pressures of work and family were turning men into ‘all-singing, all-dancing’ superdads.

The researchers, at the University of Lancaster used survey and in-depth interviews with parents and their children aged 11 to 16 in Rochdale to examine the relationships between fathers, work and family life. They found that:

• Fathers and mothers had different attitudes to paid work. While men tended to stress the financial rewards and compulsion to work out of a sense of duty, women were more likely to link work to personal freedom and choice.
• Traditional attitudes to work and family were not confined to parents. Teenagers’ views of their future roles were remarkably similar.
• Many fathers referred to continual demands from their children to provide money for clothes and other items marketed as part of the teenage consumer culture.
• Men who were in low-paid jobs, sick, disabled or unemployed voiced feelings of frustration and sadness about their supposed ‘failure’ to be a good-enough provider for their families. Although men who were not working had the opportunity to adopt a more hands-on parenting role, most found it hard to adjust.
• Many parents, particularly mothers, wanted men to be more active in family life, yet they also tended to assume that mothers were the experts in parenting and to judge fathers’ contributions accordingly.

The report calls for ‘fathering’ to be given a higher profile and commends the lead of Scandinavian countries where the positive aspects of father-child relationships are promoted by government. It urges the Government to ensure that the European Union directive limiting the working week to 48 hours is properly implemented and to consider a new right to paid parental leave when children are ill or at times of crisis.

Charlie Lewis, co-author of the report, said: “Our study leaves no doubt that difficulties balancing home and work responsibilities are placing families under considerable pressure. Those under strain include families where the fathers work long hours and – paradoxically – those where fathers are out of work and unable meet the widely-held expectation that their main role as parents is to provide.

“The research has also shown that most fathers have far more interaction with their children than has been acknowledged in previous studies. We need to give proper recognition to the range of activities where men are involved with their families – and we need to make ‘fathering’ more visible through policies that support the wishes, needs and rights of all family members.”