Margaret O’Brien

Margaret's key research is in the field of fathers, work and family life, with a policy and parenting support focus. She seeks to understand how fathers and mothers can work and care together for the welfare of children and gender equality.

She is a representative on the International Network on Parental Leave Policy and Research and has been a member of UN experts group preparing for International Year of the Family 2014 where she contributed to Men in Families and Family Policy in a Changing World Report.

Her current ESRC project is profiling 21st century fathers at home and in the world of work, see the Modern Fatherhood website.

Another significant strand of Margaret's work has examined children's experiences of neighbourhood life in inner and outer London, new towns and more recently rural settings in Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Understanding children's local kin and neighbourhood environments in the context of class, ethnicity and faith groups is of great importance to her work.