We all have different expectations about how involved dads should be during pregnancy and childbirth. In the UK, it’s generally seen as a good thing and research is now beginning to show that it matters…
As a society, we put a significant emphasis on women’s health both immediately prior to and during pregnancy – and rightly so. A woman needs to prepare her body for the arduous nine months of gestation…
The new paternity leave scheme that started on January 1 may be cheap and still have a significant impact. It offers new fathers two weeks leave at minimum wage, which is only a fraction of what new dads…
The success of House Husbands, the Australian drama featuring four hands-on dads may be a signal that today’s fathers really want more involvement in their children’s lives than did previous generations…
If we want to survey families to discover how the children are going, we usually have to ask an adult. It seems common sense to ask the “primary carer”, usually the mother, who knows the child the best…
The front page of Saturday’s edition of the Sydney Morning Herald on the weekend was dominated by a story about the actor Rachel Griffiths and her husband, artist Andrew Taylor “playing swapsies” with…
The idea that mental illness can harm family relationships is not new. But it’s usually the mother’s parenting that has been the centre of attention. So an article I co-wrote in today’s issue of the Medical…
It comes as no surprise to see that parenting programs attract mothers. Drop into a “toddler taming” discussion, a workshop on parents and literacy or a seminar about communicating with your teenager and…
The increase in childhood obesity over the last few decades is frightening. Clearly fresh thinking is needed. New evidence of father’s impact on children’s weight gain may point us toward novel approaches…
As another set of high school exams roll through, there will undoubtedly be significant focus on how boys’ results differ from those of girls’. This is part of an ongoing focus on the trend of girls’ academic…
The picture of a dad with a toddler in his arms happily waving as mum heads off to work is attractive – it suggests a more equal, sharing and caring type of world. But is this a reality of family life…
There are hopeful signs from a number of sources that the “get tough on crime” approach is working, with politicians promising the era of more prisons and longer sentences has had its day. Movements such…
Media comment in the lead up to Father’s Day is generally a pretty tame affair, but this year fatherhood is under the hammer. Fatherlessness was named as the cause of rioting and looting in London and…