11 July 2010
 I have written to Frank Field in response to his speech about fathers and child poverty. I have copied it to Iain Duncan-Smith and Nick Clegg.
In summary:
- Child poverty is a family function, not just an issue between a child and a “primary carer”. The ability of adults in the family to earn and to care and to cooperate with each other all have a critical influence on the child.
- In the UK, all supports to family assume that a child in poverty has only one parent even in the case where two parents are sharing things 50/50. In Australia a child can have two single parents, both supported in their contribution to the child’s life.
- There are strong aspirations in families to build on – for fathers to be close to their children, for mothers to continue a role outside the home, for parents to live cooperatively.
Dear Frank Field, Continue reading Letter to Frank Field – a family approach to child poverty?
26 June 2010
Katrin Bennhold, correspondent for the International Herald Tribune in Paris, has written an unusually good piece, Women’s liberation lies in liberating men.
Motherhood still remains the barrier to gender equality…..The only thing that can level the playing field at work is a level playing field at home. And that requires a major shift . . . → Read More: “Women’s liberation lies in liberating men”
21 June 2010
So Nick Clegg has confirmed that the Government intends to “encourage shared parenting from the earliest stage of pregnancy”.
A great policy – two thirds of mothers and fathers think parents should share the responsibilities of caring, but only one third of parents report that this actually happens. In other countries where real . . . → Read More: Government declares policy to promote “shared parenting from pregnancy”: for things for their ‘to do’ list
8 May 2010
Imagine you both continue your careers and your child is close to both of you? How to start out down this road?
Here are my top tips for new parents, based on my book, Baby’s Here! Who D0es What?
1. Don’t end up with one parent doing all the caring and the . . . → Read More: Nine top tips on how to have children and not fall apart
19 January 2010
I was talking to a divorced single father the other day. I know all the theory about the difficulties that single parents face (I lack the direct experience, being neither divorced nor separated) but being faced by the reality of a single case sometimes has more power than the theory. And I was . . . → Read More: The struggles of single parents in UK
31 December 2009
On Monday I am on Woman’s Hour discussing the issue of fathers losing their jobs and being pitched into full-time care of children. I will comment on their experiences. So what should I say?
It seems to me there are two key factors. First there is the burden of social expectation . . . → Read More: When fathers lose their jobs
7 August 2009
“What really upsets me are those fathers who have chosen not to be with their children.” Janice, aged 17, who lost her father when she was 8.
Hodder is publishing a new edition of The Sixty Minute Father by Rob Parsons, making this the longest lasting book on fatherhood – and, in my . . . → Read More: I love the book, The Sixty Minute Father, by Rob Parsons!
3 August 2009
Is the key challenge of sharing the care of children in fact stepping out of one’s culturally determined earning or caring role rather than the challenges of the new role?
The Daily Mail is still at it, with yet more excellent articles about motherhood, fatherhood and family life (see my earlier blog on . . . → Read More: Why does sharing of the care of infants create feelings of guilt and inadequacy for mums and dads?
27 July 2009
Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats, gave a speech on the family on 8 July at Relate.
He said that it was important to support family relationships of all kinds and in all family formations. He talked about the need at the present time to support relationships under stress from unemployment, repossession . . . → Read More: Nick Clegg gives speech on family and fatherhood
20 July 2009
My last blog is the first blog of mine that has stimulated discussion on-line, with particularly insightful comment by Karen Woodall who leads the Centre for Separated Families. I am so excited about this that all I want to do in my blog this week is recommend that people read the comments on . . . → Read More: Interesting on-line conversation about parental separation and child poverty
|
|
