After Great Recession, More Married Fathers Providing Child Care

Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation, this brief examines changes in father-provided child care among married fathers with an employed wife. Author Kristin Smith reports that the share of married fathers providing care to their children under age 15 while their mother worked rose from 27 percent in 2005 to 31 percent in 2011. The rise in father-provided child care was driven primarily by the rise in child care provided by black and Hispanic fathers. Between 2005 and 2011, the shares of rural and urban married fathers providing child care began to diverge. In 2005, rural and urban married fathers were equally likely to provide care to their children. By 2011, the share of urban married fathers providing care had risen by 4 percentage points, while rural fathers\u27 care provision remained the same. The results presented in this brief demonstrate that the share of married fathers who provide care to their children increased during the Great Recession. Married-couple families adapted to husbands\u27 job loss by increasing their reliance on fathers as caregivers

Supporting Fathers in Multi-Ethnic Societies: Insights from British Asian Fathers

AbstractThere is concern that current UK policy and intervention aimed at supporting fathers remains primarily informed by dominant White middle-class values and experiences, and therefore fails to respond adequately to the needs of Britain's diverse fathers. This paper contributes to understanding of ethnic diversity in fathering contexts, practices and experiences, by reporting findings from a qualitative study of British Asian fathers, involving in-depth interviews with fifty-nine fathers and thirty-three mothers from Bangladeshi Muslim, Pakistani Muslim, Gujarati Hindu and Punjabi Sikh background, and over eight additional respondents engaged through Key Informant interviews, ethnographic interviews and group discussions. The paper highlights four areas that require greater recognition by policy-makers and practitioners to appropriately meet the needs of fathers from diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds. These are: recognising that fathers and mothers do not necessarily constitute an autonomous unit; appreciating diversity in fathers’ understandings of desirable child outcomes; addressing additional obstacles to achieving similar outcomes for children; and understanding that the boundaries and content of fathering are not universally recognised. Policies that are less normative and more responsive to diversity are essential to ensure that all fathers can be effectively supported.</jats:p

The Co-occurrence of child and intimate partner maltreatment in the family: characteristics of the violent perpetrators

This study considers the characteristics associated with mothers and fathers who maltreat their child and each other in comparison to parents who only maltreat their child. One hundred and sixty-two parents who had allegations of child maltreatment made against them were considered. The sample consisted of 43 fathers (Paternal Family—PF) and 23 mothers (Maternal Family—MF) who perpetrated both partner and child maltreatment, together with 23 fathers (Paternal Child—PC) and 26 mothers (Maternal Child—MC) who perpetrated child maltreatment only. In addition, 2 fathers (Paternal Victim—PV) and 23 mothers (Maternal Victim—MV) were victims of intimate partner maltreatment and perpetrators of child maltreatment and 7 fathers (Paternal Non-abusive Carer—PNC) and 15 mothers (Maternal Non-abusive Carer—MNC) did not maltreat the child but lived with an individual who did. Within their family unit, 40.7% of parents perpetrated both intimate partner and child maltreatment. However, fathers were significantly more likely to maltreat both their partner and child than mothers and mothers were significantly more likely to be victims of intimate partner violence than fathers. PF fathers conducted the highest amount of physical and/or sexual child maltreatment while MC and MV mothers perpetrated the highest amount of child neglect. Few significant differences between mothers were found. PF fathers had significantly more factors associated with development of a criminogenic lifestyle than PC fathers. Marked sex differences were demonstrated with PF fathers demonstrating significantly more antisocial characteristics, less mental health problems and fewer feelings of isolation than MF mothers. MC mothers had significantly more childhood abuse, mental health problems, parenting risk factors and were significantly more likely to be biologically related to the child than PC fathers. This study suggests that violent families should be assessed and treated in a holistic manner, considering the effects of partner violence upon all family members, rather than exclusively intervening with the violent man

Who are Non-Resident Fathers?: A British Socio-Demographic Profile

Despite international growth of, and policy interest in, divorce and separation since the 1970s, there is still surprisingly little known about non-residential fatherhood. This paper presents a ‘father-centric’ analysis and provides one of the first profiles of non-residential fatherhood in early millennium UK. Using data from Understanding Society Wave 1, a nationally representative survey of over 30,000 households in the UK, we found 1,070 men self-identifying as having a non-resident child under 16 years old (https://www.understandingsociety.ac.uk). We estimate a prevalence of 5 per cent of British men having a non-resident dependent child. Through latent class analysis, four distinct groups of non-resident fathers are identified: ‘Engaged’ fathers, ‘Less Engaged’ fathers, ‘Disengaged’ fathers and ‘Distance’ fathers. Our analysis finds that non-resident fathers form a heterogeneous group in terms of their socio-demographic profile and family behaviour. It is recommended that legislation and policy concerning fathers in post-separation families are sensitive to variation as well as commonality in socio-economic conditions and family lives and situations

Working Dads: Final Report on the Fathers at Work Initiative

Noncustodial fathers have an essential role to play -- both financially and emotionally -- in the lives of their children. However, of the 11 million noncustodial fathers in the US, two thirds do not pay any formal child support. Many of these fathers are poor themselves and face multiple barriers, including low education levels, limited work experience, and criminal records, which impede their success in the labor market as well as their ability to provide for their children.Working Dads: Final Report on the Fathers at Work Initiative presents findings from P/PV's evaluation of Fathers at Work, a national demonstration funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, designed to help low-income noncustodial fathers increase their employment and earnings, become more involved in their children's lives, and provide them with more consistent financial support. The Fathers at Work programs offered a unique combination of job training and placement, child support and fatherhood services at six well-established community-based organizations in Chicago, IL; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Richmond, CA; and Roanoke, VA. Our findings suggest that the programs produced important benefits for participants, including increased earnings and child support payment. The report details the specific strategies Fathers at Work programs used and explores the policy implications of this research

FATHERING STYLES OF MOSLEM FAMILIES PERCEIVED FROM PERSONALITY TYPES IN NORTH SUMATERA

Fathering styles are highly influenced by cultural background from which the father are raised. These styles will be observed by children and eventually become an imitated model for children in shaping their attitude and behavior as well as their ethnic identity representing their cultural values. The objectives of this research is to know the difference of fathering styles between fathers in Minangkabau families and Batak families perceived from their personality types. The subjects of this research were 90 fathers in Medan, North Sumatera which consist of 45 fathers of Minangkabau ethnicity and 45 fathers of Batak ethnicity. The data of the study were collected by using two scales, which are personality types scale and fathering style scale. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was applied to analyze the data. The result of the analysis shows that personality types and ethnicity interact each other in affecting fathering styles ( F : 5.872; p = 0.004 < 0.05),so there is a difference of fathering styles between Minangkabau fathers and Batak fathers perceived from introvert and extrovert personality types. A final contribution of this study is the effort to save young generation who live fatherless and support well function families through fathers’ role in transmitting good cultural values of fathers’ ethnicity, so it is suggested that fathers’ involvement should be existed in raising children’s development any condition even divorce can not be avoided. Paternal figure should always be present in children’s life both by father’s direct involvement and by involvement of other paternal figures. Good paternal figure will help children to avoid social problems they face in life

Engaging fathers in preventive services: fathers and family centres

Although many fathers are spending more time caring for their children in the home, men continue to be conspicuous by their absence from mainstream family support services. Family centres - community-based services for families in need and at risk - are no exception to this, despite widespread enthusiasm for developing work with fathers in these settings. This qualitative study by the independent Policy Research Bureau focuses on the attitudes and experiences of over 90 fathers, mothers and staff in thirteen family centres across England and Wales. The study revealed that while family centres often cater well to fathers in particular circumstances, such as lone parents, fathers in more ordinary circumstances tended to be deterred by the feminised atmosphere of centres and by the limited range of activities more likely to appeal to men. The research strongly suggested that there is a need for greater clarity about who family centres are really intended for, in order to develop good practice in working with fathers in family support settings

Single-Father Families: A Review of the Literature

The number of children residing in single-father families in the United States quadrupled as a proportion of children\u27s living arrangements during the past few decades of the 20th century. Research on single fathers also increased and changed in nature. This article is a review of the research on single fathers and their families from the 1970s until recently, focusing on modifications in methodology and theoretical underpinnings. In general, research on single-father families evolved from qualitative studies focused on the well-being of single fathers to quantitative studies focusing on child outcomes and within-group variation among single fathers. Research also moved from descriptive studies to those testing gender and microstructural theories. This article also summarizes the main findings on single fathers and concludes with directions for future research

Religious Heterogamy, Marital Quality, and Paternal Engagement

Using data from a nationally representative sample of married fathers of school-aged children, we examined the association between religious heterogamy of parents and fathers’ involvement in children’s lives. We further examined whether that association is mediated by marital quality and father–child religious discord. Results showed that greater religious heterogamy is associated with less interaction and more relational distance between fathers and children. Results also suggested that fathers’ reports of marital happiness play an important role in mediating the association between religious heterogamy and paternal engagement. We concluded that religious fathers are more involved in their children’s lives insofar as their wives are equally religious and they are in happy marriages

A Transport Equation Theory of Electron Scattering

The use of the Boltzmann transport equation to describe electron scattering in electron microscopy and electron probe microanalysis is discussed. A method of solution is given in which the transport equation is divided into angle and energy intervals. This gives rise to a number of coupled first order differential equations. Separation into forward and backward travelling components of the electron flux distribution enables the correct boundary conditions to be imposed. Solutions are derived which take the form of matrix operators analytic in both depth and target thickness. These matrices allow derivation of other physical quantities such as X-ray or Auger electron production. Calculations using this method are fast and accurate. Results are presented showing angular distributions of backscattered electrons and the variation of the backscattered fraction with angle of incidence and atomic number. The variations of backscattered, transmitted and absorbed fractions with target thickness are presented. The theory has also been applied to the calculation of the energy distributions of backscattered electrons, energy dissipation and X-ray production as functions of depth and the Auger backscattering factor. It appears that electron scattering in thick targets is not amenable to treatment using simple models. This is because most of the features of interest are determined by a combination of medium angle scattering (\u3c 20°) and large angle scattering (20-90°). Nevertheless certain approximations within the present framework, which describe multiple scattering correctly, can give some useful insights