Study finds that fathers feel they don’t have the parenting support they need

They feel like they are being left out.

A recent study conducted in Australia has found that fathers feel like they're not given the support they need when first becoming a parent. The study, published in the journal Nursing and Health Sciences, interviewed first-time parents on barriers they come across in groups, with the overall outcome being that men think parenting classes are too 'exclusive' to mums. Lead researcher Norma Barrett said: “These mums told us that parents group was an important support for them, but was not accessed by their male partner. “Sadly, based on what the participants told us, the fathers who did express an interest in parents groups quickly realised it was a female dominated space and stopped attending.” There were a list of reasons why fathers stopped going to groups, with one being that the majority were labelled as a 'mum group'. Other reasons ranged from conflicting time schedules, and their female partners only getting invites, with them being excluded. “Fathers are no longer simply the household breadwinners. They are very active parents in contemporary households, often sharing the child rearing load with mothers also working outside the home," Norma said. The researchers said that parenting groups need to become inclusive, with invites being spread out to fathers, and more time options available. “This may not only have benefits for individual men, and runoff benefits for their families, but over time could also have a generational impact with male engagement in services becoming the new norm," Norma concluded.