Does father involvement increase children's educational attainment at primary school?

Lead Research Organisation: University of Leeds
Department Name: Leeds University Business School (LUBS)

Abstract

Fathers spend more time on childcare than ever before (e.g. Fatherhood Institute 2017) but the implications of this on children are unclear. Fathers' childcare involvement should have a positive effect on children's cognitive and educational outcomes (Lamb 2010) but there is little direct evidence to support this. Our study proposes to conduct the first longitudinal analysis in England that explores the relationship between fathers' childcare involvement and their children's attainment at primary school.

Primary education is a pivotal stage of child development because it is the point at which children first make the transition from the home environment to school. Achievements at this early stage can shape educational pathways and thus future employment prospects and opportunities. Previous research with mothers or 'parents' more generally suggests that early parental involvement is critical for child development (e.g. Hsin and Felfe 2014) but we do not know whether fathers impact their children's education differently to mothers, or whether paternal care is particularly important for boys, girls or at certain stages in the child's life regardless of gender. There is an urgent need to explore the potential effect of paternal childcare involvement given the Department for Education (2018) now report that over a quarter of children in England are not primary 'school-ready' because they fall below the expected level for communication and literacy, whilst UNICEF (2018) ranks the UK in the bottom third of 41 of the world's richest countries for inequalities in primary school education. We propose that paternal pre- or school age care could help to support progression in particular academic subjects, close gender gaps in attainment and even moderate the detrimental effects of poverty.

Using household data from the Millennium Cohort Survey (MCS) linked with official educational records of children from the National Pupil Database (NPD) in England, we will explore whether, how and at what stage fathers' childcare involvement affects children's attainment at primary school. The MCS collects data at four relevant life stages: pre-school (9 months and 3 years), school entry (age 5), in the middle (age 7) and at the end (age 11) of school. Our analysis will track longer, more comprehensive primary school educational trajectories than has been previously possible (e.g. Cano et al. 2019), focussing on how pre-school and school-age paternal childcare involvement affects children's attainment in core (e.g. Maths, English, Science) and non-core (e.g. Art, ICT) subjects at the three key stages of primary school (ages 5, 7 and 11).

The research questions are:

1. Does paternal involvement increase primary school attainment for children? And specifically:
(a) How important is fathers' pre-school involvement?
(b) Does the sex of the child moderate the effect of paternal involvement on educational attainment?
(c) Does father involvement moderate the known negative effects of poverty?

2. Which kinds of paternal-childcare activities have the strongest effect on a child's primary school attainment, and at what stage of the child's life is this most important?

The project will make an original contribution to the literature, and contribute to scholarly and policy debates, by being the first UK-based study identifying the ways in which fathers may narrow attainment gaps and/or moderate the known effects of gender and socio-economic status. The findings will be relevant to a range of stakeholders including policymakers, practitioners, teachers and families. Our impact strategy has been developed with the Head of Communications at the Fatherhood Institute (project Co-I) who will draw on existing contacts within the school, early years and health sectors to involve them in a method of coproduction that steers the analysis and turns the results into relevant and impactful resources that are tailored to their specific needs.
 
Description This project has:

1) Generated new knowledge about the relationship between fathers and mothers' childcare involvement and their children's educational attainment in the first year of primary school. Our analysis shows that in two-parent households, paternal engagement in childcare activities (such as reading, playing games, drawing and painting) has a positive effect on a child's overall attainment at primary school at age five, over and above the effect from the mothers' childcare engagement. Maternal engagement is still important but affects the child in different ways by, for example, having a positive effect on a child's emotional, conduct, hyperactivity and pro-social behaviour. Paternal engagement at age five also has a positive, longitudinal effect on a child's later attainment, when the child is aged seven. These findings highlight the unique and differential effects that fathers and mothers have on a child's educational and cognitive development. This suggests that fathers' involvement provides an educational advantage to their children, which seems to operate differently to the effects of mothers' involvement.

2) Generated new knowledge about how fathers' involvement helps to mitigate some of the detrimental effects of poverty on educational attainment at age five. Our analysis shows that living in poverty at any point from the child's first year has a negative effect on the child's primary school attainment but the fathers' childcare involvement helps to mediate the negative effect of poverty on attainment at age five. This underlines the importance of supporting fathers to be involved in their children's care because of the potential benefits for disadvantaged children in the early stages of primary school.

3) Generated new knowledge about the relationship between fathers and mothers' childcare involvement and children's educational attainment at age seven, which has opened up new research questions. Our analysis shows that in two-parent households, both fathers' and mothers' engagement in childcare at age seven has a negative association with a child's educational attainment at that age. Through further analyses, we found evidence that suggests parents increase their involvement in childcare at this stage in their child's life when the child is doing poorly at school. In other words, at age seven, a child's educational attainment affects the level of parental involvement rather than the other way round.

4) Built new research networks and collaborations with key parent-teacher associations and organisations through our research dissemination and knowledge exchange and impact activity. For example, Parentkind (formerly the National Association of Parent Teacher Associations with over 12,000 PTA members) participated in our consultation forums then collaborated with us on a blog that draws on the research (https://www.parentkind.org.uk/about-us/news-and-blogs/blog/what-a-difference-a-dad-makes-engaging-with-fathers-as-well-as-mothers). Learning with Parents (a charity that runs a 'parental engagement' online platform supporting over 1,000 primary school teachers across the UK) dedicated their latest parental engagement forum to the project. Helen presented the project findings and the team led discussion with an audience of education and policy stakeholders.
Exploitation Route There are four main constituencies for the research:

i) Government bodies and policymakers: Our results inform social and policy concerns about widening gaps in attainment at school (e.g. see UK Parliament 2021; Department for Education (DfE) 2018). The project also responds to the House of Commons Education Committee (2019) 'Life Chances' inquiry recommendation for research into how parental involvement helps to facilitate child development. The PI has already liaised with Patrick Spencer at the DfE - senior advisor to the Secretary of State for Education - who has expressed an interest in this work and has been invited to open the end of project event in June 2023.

ii) Parent-teacher associations and organisations that support the school-home relationship such as the Fair Education Alliance, Parentkind, Learning with Parents, Peeple and School Home Support. We have already established links with these organisations - for example through our consultation forums and/or collaboration on articles about fathers' engagement.

iii) Teachers and early years' practitioners. Understanding how fathers' impact on children's educational development will help a range of professionals to address attainment gaps including primary school teachers, their heads and governors and early years' practitioners. The project has generated new knowledge that helps to develop father-inclusive ways of supporting children's learning.

iv) Fathers and families - who will be provided with evidence-based tips and strategies on how to maximise paternal involvement and impact.
Sectors Education

URL http://www.piecestudy.org
 
Description The project findings are starting to have societal impact through our engagement work with third-sector organisations, parent-teacher associations and parental engagement networks who have not considered a direct focus on fathers before in their work. For example, we have engaged with 'Parentkind' (formerly the National Association of Parent Teacher Associations and are of the largest UK national charities comprising over 12,000 PTA members) throughout the project and some of the outputs of our engagement include a joint article, which underlines the importance of engaging fathers published on their website (https://www.parentkind.org.uk/about-us/news-and-blogs/blog/what-a-difference-a-dad-makes-engaging-with-fathers-as-well-as-mothers). We have also worked with 'Learning with Parents' (LWP) who deliver a 'parental engagement' online platform that supports over 1,000 primary school teachers across the UK. We ran LWP's quarterly parental engagement forum in January 2023, which involved leading a discussion with the audience of policy and educational practitioners on how to engage fathers and disseminate these findings. Both stakeholders have confirmed their participation in the end of project stakeholder event scheduled for June 2023, which will also bring other key sector stakeholders and representatives from fathering groups onto a roundtable to discuss the project findings and reflect on why including fathers in parental engagement outreach work is critical.
First Year Of Impact 2022
Sector Education
Impact Types Societal

 
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 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 'PIECE Talks' - Educators consultation, May 2022 
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 project team ran an 'educators consultation' in May 2022 - a focus group with 8 participants who were early years practitioners or from third sector organisations, parental engagement networks or fathering groups (e.g. Parentkind, Parental Engagement Network, School Home Support and Dads Matter). The discussion focused on how to engage fathers as well as the challenges around this. This helped us to build our stakeholder networks and has led to further collaborations. For example, we have developed a good relationship with Parentkind (formerly the National Association of Parent Teacher Associations) who are one of the largest national charities in the UK comprising over 12,000 PTA members. We co-authored a blog with them (published on their website), Parentkind then attended a January consultation we ran with Learning with Parents and they also invited Helen to join the Foundation for Education Development steering group. Parentkind have agreed to participate in the panel discussion at the end of project event scheduled for June 2023.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://piecestudy.org/blog/join-the-piece-talks-to-have-your-say-about-fathers-childrens-learning-a...
 
Description 'PIECE Talks' - Fathers consultation forum, May 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact The project team held a 'fathers consultation' event in May 2022 , which was a focus group with 8 fathers who responded to an advert. The aim of the discussion was to better understand how fathers support their children's learning, what support the fathers would like and any challenges in relation to this. This helped us build a small group of interested fathers to add to our networks. One of the participants later invited Helen to deliver a presentation about the project to his work colleagues at the UKRI (which took place in September 2022).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://piecestudy.org/blog/join-the-piece-talks-to-have-your-say-about-fathers-childrens-learning-a...
 
Description Announcement of project "PIECE Talks" (consultation events) 
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 announced our consultation events (PIECE Talks) was published on the project website and promoted by the Fatherhood Institute. It announces the dates for our consultation events with parents and education practitioners, which will focus on understanding how fathers support their children's learning, the help fathers want and receive, and any challenges.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://piecestudy.org/blog/join-the-piece-talks-to-have-your-say-about-fathers-childrens-learning-a...
 
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 to launch the Fathers and Children's Learning survey 
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 Helen Norman and Jeremy Davies published a blog to launch the project's 'Fathers and Children's Learning' survey, which aims to build a better understanding of how fathers get involved in supporting their children's learning, and how schools, nurseries and other family services can help. This was published on the project website and promoted by the Fatherhood Institute.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://piecestudy.org/blog/
 
Description Blog to launch the Paternal Involvement and its Effects on Children's Education (PIECE) project 
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 In this blog post, Helen Norman and Jeremy Davies reflect on what we already know about the relationship between parents' involvement and children's educational development, why fathers might be important and what the PIECE project will address. This was published and promoted by the Fatherhood Institute
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL http://www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/2021/revealing-fathers-impact-on-their-childrens-learning-and-dev...
 
Description British Sociological Association presentation, 21 April 2022 (online) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Helen presented early findings from the project to a small audience (approx 8) international and UK researchers (academics and postgraduate students), which sparked questions and discussion about the findings and next steps. The abstract was picked up by the media (the I newspaper) who ran an article on the project, following the presentation. The newspaper article was then picked up and reported in multiple national and international news outlets including HR news, MSN, Verified News Explorer Network and Tebigeek - a news website in Spain.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://piecestudy.org/dissemination/british-sociological-association-conference/
 
Description Centre for Research on Families, Life Course and Generations (FLaG) - Work in Progress workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Helen presented the project plans to the Centre for Research on Families, Life Course and Generations (FLaG) work in progress workshop at the University of Leeds. This was chaired by Professor Sarah Irwin (one of the project's advisory board members). Questions around the mechanisms behind fathers' parenting as well as accounting for cultural factors and school context in our analysis were issues that were discussed.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL https://piecestudy.org/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 European Sociological Association RN13 Newsletter article, Dec 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity A magazine, newsletter or online publication
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Helen wrote an article about the project, which was published in the European Sociological Association (ESA) 'winter 2022' RN13- Sociology of Families and Intimate Lives network newsletter (in December 2022). This was distributed to the network members and published on the ESA website.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.europeansociology.org/media/2ca86dd8-2662-4b8f-ab00-030619a426f8
 
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 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 Leeds University Business School Research Conference, 13 June 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 an update on the project to a group of about 20 academic colleagues from Leeds University Business School as part of their one-day research conference where the purpose was to showcase the work of colleagues across the school. The research was presented and questions were fielded from the audience.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://piecestudy.org/dissemination/paternal-involvement-and-its-effects-on-childrens-education-pie...
 
Description Natcen 'Inequality and Education' conference, 27 June 2022 - City, University of London 
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 delivered a presentation to the National Centre for Social Research 'Inequality and Education: taking stock and finding solutions' conference, 27 June 2022 at City, University of London to an audience to approximately 35-40 academics, practitioners and third sector organisations. The presentation was followed by questions and discussion from the audience. The conference was recorded and is available at the URL link below (with Helen's talk starting at 2.02).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhiwHlM2-8Q
 
Description Parentkind blog - What a difference a dad makes: engaging with fathers as well as mothers, 20 Sept 2022 
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 blog co-authored with the Chief Executive and Head of partnerships at Parentkind (formerly the National Association of Parent Teacher Associations) and is one of the largest national charities in the UK comprising over 12,000 PTA members) was published on their website - and on our project website here : https://piecestudy.org/blog/what-a-difference-a-dad-makes-engaging-with-fathers-as-well-as-mothers/. This has led to further planned collaborations with Parentkind who have expressed an interest in supporting the project work through publishing other co-authored blogs and running an APPG dedicated to our research. The Head of Partnerships at Parentkind has been confirmed as one of the panel discussants at our project launch event in June 2023.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.parentkind.org.uk/about-us/news-and-blogs/blog/what-a-difference-a-dad-makes-engaging-wi...
 
Description Project website (& project Twitter account) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Project website and Twitter account launched for the project, which provides details about the project and posts updates and outputs. Our Twitter account has over 160 followers and counting.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
URL http://www.piecestudy.org
 
Description Social Policy Association conference presentation, 6 July 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Rose Smith delivered a presentation about the project findings to an audience of approximately 15 academics working in social policy. This sparked questions and discussion from the audience during the Q&A session that followed.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://social-policy.org.uk/what-we-do/conference-2/
 
Description Time with Dad - Fatherhood Institute online event, 7 Oct 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Helen delivered a presentation as part of a panel for an online event organised by the Fatherhood Institute called "Time with Dad: Involving Fathers in the Home Learning Environment". There was an audience of about 60 practitioners, representatives from third sector organisations, lobbying groups and academics. There was questions and discussion and after, the panel discussed future collaborations such as joint research events.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://piecestudy.org/dissemination/time-with-dad-involving-fathers-in-the-home-learning-environmen...
 
Description Timescapes 10 Festival - Fathers and Longitudinal Research Panel, 14 Sept 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact We participated in on a "Fathers and Longitudinal Research Panel" for the Timescapes 10 Festival. We delivered a presentation to an audience of about 10 academic scholars - including established professors and researchers working in the field of fatherhood. There was discussion amongst the panel members and audience after the presentations, including exchanges of ideas for future collaborations.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://piecestudy.org/dissemination/using-longitudinal-data-to-explore-how-fathers-involvement-affe...
 
Description UKRI Staff Parenting Network presentation, 13 September 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Helen was invited by the Head of Policy - Research Sustainability at the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) (who participated in the 'fathers' consultation for the project) to deliver a presentation about the project to their Staff Parenting Network. The event was attended by about 50 people and the organiser said that additional staff members joined the Parenting Network following my talk. There were multiple questions and discussion from the audience in the Q&A session after my talk.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://piecestudy.org/dissemination/do-fathers-affect-childrens-progression-in-primary-school/
 
Description What difference does 'time with dad' make to children's learning? - Blog, 26 April 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact The team wrote a blog summarising some of the initial findings from the project, which was published on the project website (https://piecestudy.org/blog/what-difference-does-time-with-dad-make-to-childrens-learning/), with a shorter version published by Leeds University Business School (https://business.leeds.ac.uk/research-ceric/dir-record/research-blog/1966/what-difference-does-time-with-dad-make-to-children-s-learning). This was disseminated to the media - the i newspaper wrote an article on the findings, which was picked up in multiple national and international news outlets including HR news, MSN, Verified News Explorer Network and Tebigeek - a news website in Spain.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://business.leeds.ac.uk/research-ceric/dir-record/research-blog/1966/what-difference-does-time-...
 
Description Work and Family Researcher Network (WFRN) conference presentation, 25 June 2022 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Helen delivered a presentation to a small audience (10-15 people) at the Work and Family Researcher Network (WFRN) conference (23-25 June 2022) in New York, USA . This sparked questions and discussion with the audience who were mainly from the US, Canada and the UK.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://wfrn.org/wfrn-2022-conference/