Which fathers are involved in looking after their children? Identifying the conditions associated with paternal involvement
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Manchester
Department Name: Social Sciences
Abstract
One of the root causes of persistent gender inequalities in economic and political life is that women carry a heavier workload in the domestic domain where they still do most of the work involved in looking after children and other family members. Women's engagement in employment has risen over the last four decades but men's contribution to childcare and housework has grown more slowly. Sen's (1992) 'capability framework' elaborates how state and organisational policies, social norms, and household economic and demographic circumstances shape men and women's options, decisions and behaviours. This framework suggests there are many social, economic, demographic and cultural factors, which exert logistic pressures on the arrangement of the domestic division of labour in households. Yet the relative importance of these factors in shaping men's involvement in childcare remains under-researched and largely based on small-scale qualitative studies or cross-sectional survey data (Norman 2010; also see O'Brien 2005).
Our earlier research (Norman 2010; Norman et al 2014; Norman and Elliot 2015) used the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) to develop measures of paternal involvement in childcare when the child was aged nine months and three years old. We found the mothers' employment hours had the strongest association with paternal involvement: if the mother worked full-time both nine months and three years after the child's birth then the father was more likely to be an involved parent when the child was aged three. Fathers were also more likely to be involved when the child was aged three if (i) they worked shorter hours in employment and (ii) if they were involved in childcare nine months after the child's birth; but the effect of both these variables was significantly weaker than that of the mothers' employment hours.
This research project will build on this analysis, using the MCS, by developing more measures of paternal involvement in childcare to establish which employment and socio-demographic characteristics shape paternal involvement as children age from nine months to eleven years old. Part of the analysis will focus on intact households to remove the confounding impact of relationship breakdown. We will also analyse the relationship between paternal involvement and the probability of households remaining intact given previous research has found a correlation between paternal involvement and the quality of a couple relationship (e.g. Poole et al. 2014).
The research questions to be addressed are:
1. How can we develop measures of paternal involvement over time as the child develops?
2. What are the key employment, socio-demographic, and attitudinal characteristics of fathers in the UK who report involved parenting behaviour when their child is aged 9 months, 3, 5, 7 and 11 years old?
3. Do trajectories of paternal involvement over the child's lifecourse vary between fathers and if so, what are the predictors?
4. Does paternal involvement when the child is aged nine months predict whether a household is still intact when the child reaches age eleven?
In examining these questions, the project aims to contribute to scholarly and policy debates about what encourages or impedes fathers' involvement in providing care for their children. It will make an original contribution to the literature on parental involvement by using a representative sample of fathers to develop measures of paternal involvement, identify differences among fathers and explore how their involvement develops as the child grows older. This is particularly relevant in light of the growing attention to fathers within policy debates about work-family issues across Europe (e.g. European Union 2013), including UK policy, where the introduction of shared parental leave is the most recent reform designed to provide better support for fathers and their involvement in childcare (BIS 2014).
Our earlier research (Norman 2010; Norman et al 2014; Norman and Elliot 2015) used the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) to develop measures of paternal involvement in childcare when the child was aged nine months and three years old. We found the mothers' employment hours had the strongest association with paternal involvement: if the mother worked full-time both nine months and three years after the child's birth then the father was more likely to be an involved parent when the child was aged three. Fathers were also more likely to be involved when the child was aged three if (i) they worked shorter hours in employment and (ii) if they were involved in childcare nine months after the child's birth; but the effect of both these variables was significantly weaker than that of the mothers' employment hours.
This research project will build on this analysis, using the MCS, by developing more measures of paternal involvement in childcare to establish which employment and socio-demographic characteristics shape paternal involvement as children age from nine months to eleven years old. Part of the analysis will focus on intact households to remove the confounding impact of relationship breakdown. We will also analyse the relationship between paternal involvement and the probability of households remaining intact given previous research has found a correlation between paternal involvement and the quality of a couple relationship (e.g. Poole et al. 2014).
The research questions to be addressed are:
1. How can we develop measures of paternal involvement over time as the child develops?
2. What are the key employment, socio-demographic, and attitudinal characteristics of fathers in the UK who report involved parenting behaviour when their child is aged 9 months, 3, 5, 7 and 11 years old?
3. Do trajectories of paternal involvement over the child's lifecourse vary between fathers and if so, what are the predictors?
4. Does paternal involvement when the child is aged nine months predict whether a household is still intact when the child reaches age eleven?
In examining these questions, the project aims to contribute to scholarly and policy debates about what encourages or impedes fathers' involvement in providing care for their children. It will make an original contribution to the literature on parental involvement by using a representative sample of fathers to develop measures of paternal involvement, identify differences among fathers and explore how their involvement develops as the child grows older. This is particularly relevant in light of the growing attention to fathers within policy debates about work-family issues across Europe (e.g. European Union 2013), including UK policy, where the introduction of shared parental leave is the most recent reform designed to provide better support for fathers and their involvement in childcare (BIS 2014).
Planned Impact
The proposed study will generate impact based on being the first UK longitudinal analysis of paternal involvement in childcare spanning a ten year period. Our analysis of whether paternal involvement in the first year of a child's life affects fathers' behaviour when their child is older, and the impact that paternal involvement has on a household remaining intact, will inform social policy debates concerning parenting, child wellbeing and development, the rights and responsibilities of fathers and 'work-life balance' in the UK and the rest of Europe (e.g. BIS 2013; EIGE 2012). We will also contribute to employment policy and workplace innovations by generating new knowledge about how men and women's employment hours and schedules can enable or hinder father's involvement at home.
The three main constituencies for our research are:
i) Government bodies and policy makers. The results of the longitudinal trajectory mapping will be relevant to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) who ran the Modern Workplaces Consultation on flexible parental leave, and are responsible for extending rights to flexible working to support gender equal roles in work and at home (BIS 2014). We will alert BIS and the relevant Minister and Shadow Minister to our findings through our policy briefing notes, and they will be invited to take part in our practitioner focused workshops.
ii) NGOs. The cross-sectional and longitudinal results will be of interest to UK NGOs concerned with improving parents' and children's wellbeing, such as the Family and Childcare Trust, and the Fatherhood Institute; and NGOs that campaign for gender equality, including the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Trades Union Congress. We will invite these NGOs to discuss our findings at our practitioner focused workshops. The results will also contribute to European policy debates around men, fathers and gender equality (e.g. see EIGE 2012) so will be disseminated through organisations outside the UK via Fagan's links with the European Commission, EIGE, European Trade Union Institute and the European Women's Lobby.
iii) Employers, trade unions and families: Our results will be relevant to employers seeking to enhance their employees' wellbeing and productivity. Likewise, families who face juggling employment and childcare demands will be interested in the results, and what employers might do to help. Working Families provide direct help and advice to employers and parents (see http://bit.ly/1S7t5DM) so are well-placed to tailor communications to reach the ears of employers to disseminate through their existing channels.
We will build on our track record of knowledge exchange activities from our gender equalities research to create a platform for securing impact with this new project focussed on fathers. The PI will be supported by Fagan who has long-standing research experience on employment and gender equality (see http://bit.ly/1EIrwFr). Guided by our project partner Working Families and supported by the University of Manchester's Policy@Manchester network and its Press Office, we will produce relevant and accessible outputs to target our findings at the intended audiences. We will produce four policy briefing bulletins, one infographic, three media articles and a quarterly blog.
The Project deliverables will be fully integrated into the calendar of dissemination and engagement activities that Working Families organise. This includes two practitioner focused workshops to discuss our findings, drawing on our practitioner engagement networks secured through our current ESRC Work-Life seminar series and contacts at the EHRC. We will organise a panel discussion at the Policy@Manchester annual 'Policy Week' of events in 2016 (see http://bit.ly/1ulYlXE), and during the ESRC's Festival of Social Science (see http://bit.ly/ZM462l). We will target additional dissemination in Europe by drawing on existing networks, as detailed at ii) above
The three main constituencies for our research are:
i) Government bodies and policy makers. The results of the longitudinal trajectory mapping will be relevant to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) who ran the Modern Workplaces Consultation on flexible parental leave, and are responsible for extending rights to flexible working to support gender equal roles in work and at home (BIS 2014). We will alert BIS and the relevant Minister and Shadow Minister to our findings through our policy briefing notes, and they will be invited to take part in our practitioner focused workshops.
ii) NGOs. The cross-sectional and longitudinal results will be of interest to UK NGOs concerned with improving parents' and children's wellbeing, such as the Family and Childcare Trust, and the Fatherhood Institute; and NGOs that campaign for gender equality, including the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Trades Union Congress. We will invite these NGOs to discuss our findings at our practitioner focused workshops. The results will also contribute to European policy debates around men, fathers and gender equality (e.g. see EIGE 2012) so will be disseminated through organisations outside the UK via Fagan's links with the European Commission, EIGE, European Trade Union Institute and the European Women's Lobby.
iii) Employers, trade unions and families: Our results will be relevant to employers seeking to enhance their employees' wellbeing and productivity. Likewise, families who face juggling employment and childcare demands will be interested in the results, and what employers might do to help. Working Families provide direct help and advice to employers and parents (see http://bit.ly/1S7t5DM) so are well-placed to tailor communications to reach the ears of employers to disseminate through their existing channels.
We will build on our track record of knowledge exchange activities from our gender equalities research to create a platform for securing impact with this new project focussed on fathers. The PI will be supported by Fagan who has long-standing research experience on employment and gender equality (see http://bit.ly/1EIrwFr). Guided by our project partner Working Families and supported by the University of Manchester's Policy@Manchester network and its Press Office, we will produce relevant and accessible outputs to target our findings at the intended audiences. We will produce four policy briefing bulletins, one infographic, three media articles and a quarterly blog.
The Project deliverables will be fully integrated into the calendar of dissemination and engagement activities that Working Families organise. This includes two practitioner focused workshops to discuss our findings, drawing on our practitioner engagement networks secured through our current ESRC Work-Life seminar series and contacts at the EHRC. We will organise a panel discussion at the Policy@Manchester annual 'Policy Week' of events in 2016 (see http://bit.ly/1ulYlXE), and during the ESRC's Festival of Social Science (see http://bit.ly/ZM462l). We will target additional dissemination in Europe by drawing on existing networks, as detailed at ii) above
Publications
Norman H
(2018)
Does Fathers' Involvement in Childcare and Housework Affect Couples' Relationship Stability?*
in Social Science Quarterly
| Description | 1. Generated new knowledge about how paternal involvement develops over the child's lifecourse: Measures of paternal involvement nine months, three, five, seven and eleven years post-birth were developed for use in multivariate analysis exploring trajectories of paternal involvement in childcare. We found that fathers were significantly more likely to be involved, and remain involved, when the child was aged three, five and seven, if they shared childcare equally with their partner nine months after the child's birth, or if they took leave from work immediately after the birth of the baby. Both parents' employment hours also shaped paternal involvement but only in the pre-school years: fathers were more likely to be involved nine months and three years' post-birth if they worked shorter hours in employment, and if the mother worked full-time. These effects hold even when we take account of other factors which may influence paternal involvement such as the presence of other children, the father's attitudes towards gender roles and his education. Longitudinal analysis revealed a decline in fathers' involvement as children age from five to seven years old, as well as significant variation in levels of involvement between fathers during this period. 2. Generated new knowledge about variations in paternal involvement across Europe: We extended the analysis to explore how employment hours and schedules impact on paternal involvement in childcare, housework and eldercare across Europe. Multivariate analysis on the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey revealed significant country variations with fathers more likely to be involved in the Nordic countries compared to other EU28 countries, regardless of their employment hours, occupational position and the mothers' employment status. 3. Generated new knowledge about how paternal involvement affects parental relationships: Multivariate analysis using individual measures of paternal involvement in childcare and household tasks showed that the stability of the parental relationship varied according to the type of task that was undertaken. Parental relationships were more likely to remain stable up to seven years post-birth if a father regularly looked after the baby on his own during the first year of parenthood. However, the effect of paternal involvement in other tasks was moderated in different ways by ethnicity and the mother's employment status. This opens up new research questions about how paternal involvement in childcare and housework affects relationship breakdown. 4. New research networks and collaborations: Our collaboration with Working Families led to the development of a grant application to the University of Manchester's ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) to run a follow-on project exploring how employers can implement more family-oriented working practice. In 2021, Norman joined the Working Families advisory board to advise on their research, policy and engagement activities. Fagan joined a steering group for Business in the Community (2017-18) and drew on the project findings to inform their 'Equal Lives' report on men with caring responsibilities published in October 2019. Norman designed a new project in partnership with the Fatherhood Institute exploring how paternal childcare involvement affects children's attainment through primary school; funding for this project was awarded by the ESRC (ES/V004328/1) (2021-2023). Norman secured a permanent position as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Leeds and is the Co-I on a project that was awarded funding from the UKRI/ESRC COVID Rapid Response scheme to explore how COVID is affecting early years childcare in England and Wales. Norman was invited to join the Department for Business and Industrial Strategy's (BEIS) advisory board to provide subject-specific and methodological steer on their evaluation of Shared Parental Leave (2019- ). Through this, she was also invited to submit evidence to their 2019 'Good Work Plan' consultation on parental leave and pay. |
| Exploitation Route | Findings may be taken forward by: 1) Policymakers: we presented at a seminar in Westminster attended by the Minster for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility and the Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Women and Work. The evidence we submitted to the Women and Equalities Committee 'Fathers and the Workplace' Inquiry has been published. Findings have been discussed with the Equality and Human Rights Commission and the European Commission. Norman has joined the Department for Business and Industrial Strategy's advisory board to help evaluate Shared Parental leave and she submitted evidence to their 'Good Work Plan' consultation. The advice and evidence that she provided, which draws on the project findings, may potentially be taken forward in the Government's plans to reform the Shared Parental Leave policy. The Government response to the consultation and advisory board report is pending. 2) Employers: we presented at two employer-led events hosted by the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Bank. The audiences included employers, practitioners, academics and representatives from the Scottish Government, and presentation slides were circulated. A video of one presentation was uploaded to the Fathers Network Scotland YouTube account. Findings have also been documented in 9 blogs published by Working Families and the University of Manchester and have featured in the University of Manchester's 'On Gender' publication that highlights the importance of gender inequality in tackling the big policy agendas devolved to Greater Manchester. As part of her new role as an academic advisory board member for Working Families (2021 -), Norman will draw on her research to inform discussion about new research, policy and engagement activities. 3) General public: our research has gained media coverage. Norman featured in a Guardian newspaper article on men's struggles with work-life balance (21st November 2017). A summary of our findings was published by workingmums.co.uk (14 June 2017), the Child and Family Blog (25 April 2017) and BBC Futures (12 June 2019). Research has also been presented at academic conferences in the UK, Europe and the US. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Other |
| URL | http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/blogs-and-briefing-papers/ |
| Description | The project findings have been used to generate economic and societal impact in the following ways: 1) By contributing to social policy debates around parenting, the rights and responsibilities of fathers and 'work-life balance' in the UK and Europe: In January 2017, our analysis of what influences fathers to be involved in their children's care was presented at a policy seminar in Westminster attended by the then Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility (Margot James), the then Co-Chair All Party Parliamentary Group on Women and Work and member of the Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) (Flick Drummond) and representatives from NGOs such as the Trades Union Congress, the Resolution Foundation and the Federation of Small Businesses. Our briefing paper (Norman et al. 2017), which was subsequently submitted as evidence to the WEC 2017 'Fathers and the Workplace' inquiry, was published and the WEC drew on our findings in their first report making recommendations to Government (WEC 2018). As a result of this policy engagement, Norman was invited to apply for a specialist advisor role to the 'Fathers and the Workplace' inquiry by the Committee Specialist. Although this position was later awarded to a more senior academic, there was positive feedback about possible future approaches. Following the policy seminar and subsequent network-building, the Department for Business and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) contacted Norman in August 2018 to discuss the project findings, and seek advice on their interim plan for evaluating Shared Parental Leave (SPL). This led to an invitation in September to join the BEIS Shared Parental Leave (SPL) Advisory Group to provide steer on BEIS plans for evaluating the SPL policy, including advice on subject-specific (e.g. maternity and paternity rights, parental leave and pay) and methodological issues. The team were then invited to submit evidence to the BEIS Good Work Plan consultation on parental leave and pay. The outcome of this is pending as BEIS are currently review the evidence that has been received. The Government Equalities Office (GEO) invited Fagan to present the project findings in a seminar in June 2018 for their Gender Equality (WAGE) Research Programme. A follow-up meeting with the Evidence Development Team Leader of the GEO's Women and Work team (Francine Hudson) led to an invitation to participate in their 'Gender Equality and Economic Empowerment' January 2019 roundtable to help inform the draft gender strategy for the Minister for Women and Equalities and the GEO. Participants included academics, policy makers and NGOs such as the Institute for Government, Demos and the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The project findings have been discussed in various briefings on UK policy and labour market developments that Fagan and Norman have submitted to the European Commission in their roles as UK academic experts for the SAAGE (Scientific analysis and advice on gender equality in the EU) team. This is an area of emerging impact with the findings potentially feeding into wider European policy debates around men, fathers and gender equality. 2) By informing employment policy and workplace innovations to facilitate work-family reconciliation: Results that show how men and women's employment hours and schedules enable or hinder father's involvement at home were shared with employers at two practitioner events organised by Fathers Network Scotland (June 2017) and Working Families (December 2016) (see 'Engagement Activities' under 'Common Outcomes'). This opened up discussions with employers about how practical workplace innovations can not only help to facilitate work-family reconciliation for their employees, but also reap economic benefits through the performance-based productivity gains from enhanced employee morale and commitment. Following this network-building, Fagan joined the Business in the Community (BiTC) advisory committee in October 2017 for their Equal Lives project in which she drew on the project findings to recommend how employers could better facilitate father involvement in childcare. This input helped to shape some of BiTC's report recommendations to employers and Government (BITC 2018). 3) By developing existing and new collaborations to generate further knowledge on fathers and their roles at home and at work: The project findings have been used to develop new research collaborations. Fagan was awarded funding by the University of Manchester's ESRC Impact Acceleration Account to lead a project on organisational culture supported by Working Families and BiTC. This will help to develop and support subsequent funding applications, such as an ESRC case-studentship at The University of Manchester. Norman has collaborated with a colleague from Alliance Manchester Business School (Dr Emma Banister) to devise a new PhD project on marginalized fathers. This was awarded funding by the University and a doctoral student was recruited to lead the work under Norman and Banister's supervision but due to personal circumstances, the student withdrew shortly after the funding was awarded. Norman has since joined the Working Families advisory board to advise on their research, policy and engagement activity with her appointment running for three years in the first instance from February 2021. Norman has collaborated with the Fatherhood Institute to design a new, follow-on project exploring how father involvement affects educational attainment through primary school. Funding was awarded by the ESRC (ES/V004328/1) and the two-year project started on 1 April 2021. Norman secured a permanent position as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Leeds in January 2020 and was the Co-I on a project that was awarded funding from the UKRI/ESRC COVID Rapid Response scheme in September 2020-March 2022 to explore how COVID is affecting early years' childcare in England and Wales. Norman was the lead for the quantitative fieldwork and one of the work packages, that focuses on how mothers and fathers are managing disruptions to formal childcare due to COVID. The Team have since been awarded funding from the Leeds University Impact Leadership Award to further develop partnerships and work with the third sector organisations that were involved in the UKRI/ESRC COVID Rapid Response project (e.g. Early Years Alliance and Coram Family Childcare). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Other |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | Citation in Women and Equalities Committee 2018 report 'Fathers and the Workplace: First Report of Session 2017-19' |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in systematic reviews |
| URL | https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/women-and-equalities-com... |
| Description | Department for Business and Industrial Strategy Advisory board on evaluating and reforming Shared Parental Leave |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Evidence submitted to and published by the Women and Equalities Committee Inquiry on Fathers and the Workplace |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/women-and-equalities-com... |
| Description | Working Families Advisory Committee |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Does father involvement increase children's educational attainment at primary school? |
| Amount | £292,402 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ES/V004328/1 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2021 |
| End | 03/2023 |
| Description | Transition to Parenthood in UK SMEs |
| Amount | £476,772 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | ES/W01002X/1 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2022 |
| End | 09/2025 |
| Description | What drives successful organisational cultural change? Putting organisational theory into practice and practice into theory (ESRC Impact Acceleration Account) |
| Amount | £13,500 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 03/2018 |
| End | 11/2018 |
| Title | Deriving measures of paternal involvement in childcare |
| Description | Latent measures of paternal involvement in childcare derived for five different time points in a child's life using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The measures capture father's involvement in their children's care nine months, three, five, seven and eleven years post-birth. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The measures allow us to conduct the first UK longitudinal analysis of paternal involvement in childcare spanning a ten year period. We use them to explore whether paternal involvement in the first year of a child's life affects fathers' behaviour when their child is older, and the impact that paternal involvement has on a household remaining intact. The results were used in evidence that we submitted to the Women and Equality Committee 'Fathers and the Workplace' Inquiry, discussed with employers to help them make practical innovations to facilitate work-family reconciliation for men and women, and formed the basis of our media engagement with the Guardian newspaper and other websites and blogs. They have been developed and tested and will be available to others in 2020. |
| Description | Equal Lives project steering group - Business in the Community |
| Organisation | Business in the Community |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Fagan has joined the Business in Community steering group for their 'Equal Lives' project on men with caring responsibilities. This will facilitate relationship building with this practitioner organization and other members of this steering group. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Fagan will receive information about the Equal Lives research project, the research preliminary findings and results. |
| Impact | Business in the Community (2019) Equal Lives: Parenthood and Caring In The Workplace report (published in October 2019: https://www.bitc.org.uk/report/equal-lives-parenthood-and-caring-in-the-workplace/). Research from the project was also cited within the report. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Working Families academic advisory board |
| Organisation | Working Families |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Helen was appointed to the Working Families (WF) academic advisory board in 2021 to provide advice on UK policy challenges and steer on the direction of WF research, lobbying and policy work |
| Collaborator Contribution | Working Families provide opportunities to update its board on current research and are able to support research dissemination. They also provide updates on relevant government consultations, opportunities for research collaboration and they are able to provide steer on the direction of research as well as relevant research resources. |
| Impact | Collaboration with Working Families on an ESRC grant application exploring the Transition to Parenthood in SMEs led by Middlesex Business School, which was awarded from the "Investigate changes in working lives and power in the workplace" call. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | 15th Annual ESPAnet Conference, 14-15 September 2017 (Lisbon, Portugal) - presentation: Flexibility and fatherhood in Europe |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Helen Norman presented the first findings exploring fathers' employment hours and schedules using the European Working Conditions Survey at the ESPAnet conference, The Institute of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. There were approximately 30 academics in the audience and the presentation sparked questions and further discussion. Project flyers were distributed to the audience following the presentation. An abstract of the presentation and further details about the conference is available from the URL link below |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/events/ |
| Description | BBC Futures Stories - The secret of being a good father. Project findings discussed in media article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The project findings were discussed in an article published by BBC Futures on the 'Secret of being a good father' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190606-how-to-be-a-good-father-to-a-newborn-son-or-daughter |
| Description | BBC Radio 4 interview - Why do we assume women care, 14 Nov 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Helen provides commentary to Professor Tina Miller on a BBC Radio 4 programme about why women care, which aired on 14 November 2022. Helen spoke about the impact of fathers being involved with their children in the first year of life. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001f53p |
| Description | BBC Sunday Morning Live - interview with Helen Norman |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Helen Norman was contacted by the BBC for a TV interview about the findings from her research. She was interviewed by Kate Bottley on BBC Sunday Morning live about how fathers' roles had changed over the last fifty years. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://piecestudy.org/blog/ |
| Description | Blog 1: What make fathers involved in their children's upbringing? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A briefing by Helen Norman and Colette Fagan was published on the Working Families workflex blog, based on early findings from our project. Blogs published by Working Families are flagged in a newsletter that gets sent to 650 parents and carers. Working Families had 6,800 unique views of the blog pages in 2017. The blog was a follow up to our presentation/engagement activity at the Working Families i) Breakfast briefing event in Manchester, and ii) Policy seminar at Westminster in London. We used this blog as a basis for our later submission to the Women and Equalities Committee inquiry on 'Fathers and the Workplace', which was published in March 2017. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/workflex-blog/father-involvement/ |
| Description | Blog 2: What makes dads involved in childcare? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A blog focusing on what influences fathers' involvement in childcare published by Policy@Manchester at the University of Manchester. This shorter blog was written as a follow up to a longer blog written for Working Families, which was published in January 2017. Both blogs were used as a basis for our submission to the Women and Equalities Committee 2017 'Fathers and the Workplace' Government Inquiry, which was published by the Government in March 2017. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/posts/2017/02/what-makes-dads-involved-in-childcare/ |
| Description | Blog 3: What should mums and dads do? Changes in attitudes towards parenting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Helen Norman, Colette Fagan and Laura Watt discuss the disparity between changing attitudes about gender roles and putting them into practice in a blog published by Working Families on 24 March 2017. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/workflex-blog/what-should-mums-and-dads-do-changes-in-attitudes-t... |
| Description | Blog 4: Shared Parental Leave in the UK: is it working? Lessons from other countries |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Norman and Fagan discuss why so few eligible fathers take up Shared Parental Leave in the UK in a blog published by Working Families on 5 April 2017. Blogs published by Working Families are flagged in a newsletter that gets sent to 650 parents and carers. Working Families had 6,800 unique views of the blog pages in 2017. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/workflex-blog/shared-parental-leave-in-the-uk-is-it-working-lesso... |
| Description | Blog 5: Why aren't men doing the housework? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Helen Norman and Laura Watt discuss why there is such a gender imbalance with housework and what might be done to redress the balance in a blog published by Working Families on 29 August 2017. Blogs published by Working Families are flagged in a newsletter that gets sent to 650 parents and carers. Working Families had 6,800 unique views of the blog pages in 2017. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/workflex-blog/why-arent-men-doing-the-housework/ |
| Description | Blog 6: Why do UK men work such long hours? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Helen Norman and Colette Fagan discuss why UK fathers work such long hours, and why some men are less able to access flexible working in some countries compared to others in a blog published by Working Families on 6 October 2017. Blogs published by Working Families are flagged in a newsletter that gets sent to 650 parents and carers. Working Families had 6,800 unique views of the blog pages in 2017. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/workflex-blog/why-are-uk-men-working-such-long-hours/ |
| Description | Blog 7: Tackling the problem of UK childcare |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Helen Norman and Colette Fagan provide an update on recent childcare initiatives introduced by the Government in a blog published by Working Families on 13 December 2017. Blogs published by Working Families are flagged in a newsletter that gets sent to 650 parents and carers. Working Families had 6,800 unique views of the blog pages in 2017. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/workflex-blog/tackling-the-problem-of-childcare/ |
| Description | Blog 8: Are some fathers being ignored in family friendly policy initiatives? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Emma Banister (Alliance Manchester Business School) led this blog piece, drawing on her own and Norman's project findings to discuss why it is important for policy makers to include all fathers in family policy initiatives. This was circulated to various organisations including the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Manchester, the international Work and Family Researchers Network, Fathers Network Scotland and Working Families. The blog lays the foundation for their new, follow-on PhD project, which they have designed building on the project findings. The PhD project that they will supervise will explore how 'fragile fathers' navigate fatherhood, work and home life and it has been granted funding from the University of Manchester. Following circulation, Norman was invited to speak about this work at a future Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/posts/2018/01/are-some-fathers-being-ignored-in-family-friendly-... |
| Description | British Sociological Association conference, 3-5 April 2017 (Manchester, UK) - poster presentation: Does paternal involvement affect relationship stability between married and cohabiting couples? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Helen Norman presented a poster showing early findings from the analysis exploring how paternal involvement affects relationship stability at the British Sociological Association conference in Manchester, UK. The poster was presented to approximately 20 academics and postgraduate students who approached the poster stand and asked questions about this work. Project flyers were also distributed. Further details about the poster can be found at the URL link posted below. The poster is also available to download from this link. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/events/ |
| Description | CERIC Anniversary webinar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Approximately 40 people attended my presentation from my new department and from other universities and organisations in the UK. The talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://business.leeds.ac.uk/research-ceric/events/event/549/ceric-anniversary-webinars-does-paterna... |
| Description | Community, Work and Family conference, 23-25 May 2017 (Milan, Italy) - invited speaker: Does paternal involvement affect relationship stability between married and cohabiting couples? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Helen Norman was invited to present the early project findings exploring the association between paternal involvement and relationship stability at the Community, Work and Family conference in Milan, Italy. There were approximately 20 academics in the audience and the presentation sparked questions and further discussion. Project flyers were distributed to the audience following the presentation. Norman was invited to take part in a roundtable discussion at the conference later in the day, which was attended by approximately 10 national and international academics discussing issues around fathering from a cross-national perspective. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/events/ |
| Description | Conversations on Care: Fathers and Care - influences and implications, WISE lecture, 8 Dec 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Helen delivered a lecture on 8th Dec 2022 to a group of about 15-20 senior academics, PhD students and researchers at the WiSE Centre for Economic Justice as part of their 'Conversations on Care' lecture series at Glasgow Caledonian University. Her talk drew on the project research to discuss the gendered division of care, the barriers to father's childcare involvement and the implications that this has on children's development. Questions and discussion about the project took place afterwards. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://piecestudy.org/dissemination/conversations-on-care-fathers-and-care-influences-and-implicati... |
| Description | Does fathers' involvement in childcare influence mothers' employment post-childbirth? Policy@Manchester blog |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | In October 2019, the Government Equalities Office published three pieces of research on the barriers to women's progression. In this blog, I discuss some of the findings from my research on fathers, particularly on the impact of paternal involvement in childcare on mothers' employment trajectories during the early stages of parenthood in the UK. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | http://blog.policy.manchester.ac.uk/growth_inclusion/2019/11/does-fathers-involvement-in-childcare-i... |
| Description | Equality and Human Rights Commission - seminar presentation, 29 June 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Helen presented the project findings in an internal seminar at the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in Manchester with video links to the EHRC's offices in Glasgow, Cardiff and London. There were about 20 members in the audience, which was made up of research managers, researchers and administrative staff who had an interest in the research. The presentation sparked questions and discussion afterwards, and Helen was invited to return to the Commission to present her work again in 2018-19. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/events/ |
| Description | European Sociological Association conference, 29 August-1 September 2017 (Athens, Greece) - presentation: Developing a measure of paternal involvement |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Helen Norman presented the methods for deriving measures of paternal involvement in childcare at the European Sociological Association conference in Athens, Greece. There were approximately 20 academics in the audience and the presentation sparked questions and further discussion. Project flyers were distributed to the audience following the presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/events/ |
| Description | European Sociological Association presentation (Fathers involvement from birth to 11 years) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Helen presented a paper to the European Sociological Association conference that shows how 'paternal childcare engagement' is measured, and how these measures have and will be used in previous and ongoing work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://piecestudy.org/events/ |
| Description | Fathers Network Scotland blog - Are some dads ignored by family-friendly policies? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Dr Emma Banister (Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester) and Dr Helen Norman collaborated to write a blog about marginalised or 'fragile' fathers, which builds on both their project findings. This was published by Fathers Network Scotland and is based on a new PhD scholarship exploring how 'fragile fathers' negotiate work and care, which has been co-designed by Banister and Norman. The scholarship has been awarded funding from the University of Manchester. A video of one of Helen's previous presentations at a Fathers Network Scotland event is also included in the blog post. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.fathersnetwork.org.uk/ignored_by_policy |
| Description | Fathers Network Scotland event - How employers can #dadup? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Helen presented the project findings to an employer-led event hosted by Lloyds Bank in Edinburgh, Scotland. The audiences included employers, practitioners, academics and representatives from the Scottish Government, and presentation slides were circulated. A video of one presentation was uploaded to the Fathers Network Scotland YouTube account and this was recently re-posted in a follow-up blog article written by Emma Banister and Helen Norman published on the Fathers Network Scotland website: http://www.fathersnetwork.org.uk/ignored_by_policy |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.fathersnetwork.org.uk/how-employers-can-dadup |
| Description | Fathers and Care - short essay for the 'On Gender' Policy@Manchester series published by the University of Manchester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A short contribution on 'fathers and care' for 'On Gender' published as a collection of essays by Policy@Manchester at the University of Manchester. The article examines the political and economic influences which dissuade involvement in childcare by fathers, and sets out what might encourage greater involvement, suggesting ways to embed this in local and national policy. The article is part of a booklet of different essays, which all take a gendered lens to devolved policy and puts gender on the agenda, highlighting what needs to be done to tackle gender inequality within policy agendas devolved to Greater Manchester and other areas with devolution deals. The publication led to an invitation to join a panel debate at an event on gender and devolution in London led by Policy@Manchester. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.policy.manchester.ac.uk/publications/on-gender/ |
| Description | Hands-on fathers less likely to break up with partners, the Observer newspaper article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | The Observer published an article about our paper exploring the effect of paternal involvement on relationship stability (Norman, Elliot and Fagan 2018). In the article, the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Jo Swinson, provides some comments on the findings |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/sep/30/hands-on-fathers-less-likely-to-break-up-with-p... |
| Description | Institute of Social and Political Sciences, 18 September 2017 (University of Lisbon, Portugal) - special seminar presentation: What influences paternal involvement in childcare over the child's lifecourse? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Helen Norman presented the results from the analysis exploring what influences paternal involvement as children age from nine months to seven years old in a special seminar organised by the Institute of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. There were approximately 10 academics from the Institute in the audience and the presentation sparked questions and further discussion. Project flyers were distributed following the presentation. An abstract of the presentation and further details about the conference is available from the URL link below |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/events/ |
| Description | International Women's Day Podcast - in conversation with Professor Jenny Tomlinson, Leeds University Business School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Professor Jennifer Tomlinson (University of Leeds) spoke to Helen in a recorded podcast about her research on what enables or hinders fathers' childcare involvement, and how ways of working and caring in a child's pre-school years sets up a pattern of caregiving that persists as the child grows older. Helen reflected on her earlier research project on fathers and introduced her current project on father involvement and children's education. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://soundcloud.com/leedsunibschool/gender-inequalities-in-work-and-care |
| Description | Media interview: Child and Family Blog, 25 April 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Norman was interviewed about the project findings by Duncan Fisher from the Child and Family Blog, which is supported by Princeton University and the University of Cambridge. The article 'Parents' working hours, far more than gender beliefs, influence how parents share care' was published by the Child and Family Blog on 25 April 2017. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.childandfamilyblog.com/uncategorised/parents-working-hours-share-care/ |
| Description | Media interview: The Guardian, 21 November 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Norman was interviewed by the Guardian newspaper about the project findings. She was featured in an article "The 'masculine mystique' - why men can't ditch the baggage of being a bloke" which was published on 21 November 2017, written by Mark Rice-Oxley. The Guardian have expressed an interest in writing a second article based on the project findings which show an association between paternal involvement in childcare and relationship stability once the associated journal paper has been published. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/nov/21/the-masculine-mystique-why-men-cant-ditch-the-baggage-... |
| Description | Media interview: workingmums.co.uk, 14 June 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Norman was interviewed by Mandy Garner from workingmums.co.uk (a community based website for working parents) about the project findings on how to support fathers to be more involved at home. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.workingmums.co.uk/first-year-crucial-dads-involvement-childcare-2/ |
| Description | Project website, launched February 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Our project website 'Which fathers are involved in looking after their children?', launched in February 2017, includes information about the project, team members, advisory board, events and publications. It includes links to our presentation slides, blogs, briefings and publications. This has been promoted to a wide range of audiences through presentations at national and international academic conferences, policy and practitioner events across the UK, Europe and the USA. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/ |
| Description | Stories feature: Dads and data - interview by the media team at the University of Manchester |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Norman was interviewed by the School of Sciences media team at the University of Manchester about the project findings. The interview was featured in the 'Stories' page on the University's website, which include details about different research projects within the School that are having, or likely to have, some impact. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/about/stories/ |
| Description | Transition to Parenthood (TRIAD) researcher workshop - Exploring ways of measuring paternal involvement through qualitative experiments with fathers, 25 April 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Helen presented the project findings in an open seminar at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. This event was organised by Finnish colleagues and was part of the Transition to Parenthood (TRIAD) researcher group, which is led by colleagues from the University of Jyväskylä. Norman joined the TRIAD group prior to the start of the project in April 2016. The audience included members of the TRIAD group - which includes researchers from Australia, Japan, Portugal and Finland - as well as researchers, students and academics from the University of Jyväskylä. Helen's talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards, and her Australian colleagues have suggested helping to arrange for Helen to visit the Australian National University and the Australian Institute of Family Studies to give a presentation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.jyu.fi/edupsy/en/research/projects/triad |
| Description | Transition to Parenthood (TRIAD) researcher workshop - Pathways to Impact, 9 October 2017 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Fagan and Norman presented to the Transition to Parenthood (TRIAD) researcher workshop group, which is led by colleagues from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Norman and Fagan joined this group prior to the start of the project in April 2016 (see https://www.jyu.fi/edupsy/en/research/projects/triad). This group is made up of researchers from Finland, Australia, Japan and Portugal and the audience also includes family services practitioners from Finland. In their talk, Fagan and Norman drew on their experience of working on research in partnership with a third sector organisation to maximise impact, and presented some of the project findings, reflecting on how to communicate statistical models and findings to non-specialist audiences. This talk sparked questions and discussion afterwards, and some members of the audience said they would take forward some of the ideas presented in their own work. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/events/ |
| Description | UKDS Case Study |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Helen was invited by the impact manager for the UK Data Service to submit a UKDS impact case study and accompanying blog that reported the findings and impact from the project. This has been published on the UKDS website and in their biannual newsletter. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://beta.ukdataservice.ac.uk/impact/case-studies/case-study?id=262 |
| Description | Why involving dads is good for relationships |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A blog discussing why paternal solo childcare is important for the stability of parental relationships was published by workingdads.co.uk |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.workingdads.co.uk/why-involving-dads-good-relationships/ |
| Description | Working Families Breakfast Briefing, 6 December 2016 (Manchester, UK), Royal Bank of Scotland |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Norman and Fagan presented the project findings to an audience of approximately 50 professional practitioners and representatives from third sector organisations in a keynote address at an event in Manchester organised by Working Families and hosted by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The presentation reflected on how effective Shared Parental Leave had been to date in helping fathers to strike a satisfactory balance between work and care. They also took part in a panel discussion with questions fielded from the audience about how to better support fathers reconcile their work and care roles, which led to an invitation to present the project findings to a larger audience of policymakers, NGOS and practitioners at a policy seminar in Westminster, London. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Working-Families-Fathers-Care-2016-Pro... |
| Description | Working Families Policy Seminar, 18 January 2017 (Westminster, London): 'The Future of Work for Modern Families' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | The PI (Norman) took part in a panel discussion, chaired by Jonathan Reynolds MP, and hosted by Working Families in Portcullis House, Westminster, London. She shared some of the early findings from the project and took questions from the audience, which was made up of policy makers, representatives from NGOs, academics and practitioners, in a panel debate. Other speakers included Margot James, Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility, and Flick Drummond MP, Co-Chair All Party Parliamentary Group on Women and Work, as well as representatives from the Trades Union Congress, Resolution Foundation, Confederation of Business Industry and the Federation of Small Businesses. Following the seminar, Norman was asked to submit evidence to the Women and Equality Select Committee's 'Fathers and the Workplace' inquiry. She was then invited by the Women and Equalities Committee Specialist to apply for a specialist advisory role to the Inquiry. Although the role was eventually awarded to a more senior Professor, the Committee Specialist suggested a future approach would be made should the opportunity arise. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://projects.socialsciences.manchester.ac.uk/involved-fathers/index.php/events/ |
| Description | Working Families Researcher Network Conference, 23-25 June 2016 (Washington DC) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Colette Fagan and Helen Norman presented their early project findings at the Work and Family Researcher Network conference in Washington DC, USA. There were approximately 20 academics in the audience and our presentation sparked questions and discussion about what enables and hinders fathers roles. We distributed project flyers to the audience during our presentation, which generated further discussion, questions and connections with other international scholars working in this area. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |