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Parenting

12th Nov 2019

Minding the children is actually GOOD for Dad’s health

Amanda Cassidy

Dads who are more involved in their children’s lives are apparently healthier, happier and more productive.

That’s according to the global fatherhood report, which said that fathers are as biologically hard-wired to provide care, just as mothers are, adding that dads “matter deeply” to child development.

However, the State of the World’s Fathers report also found there is no country in the world where men share unpaid domestic and care work, revealing that women continue to spend between two to ten times longer than men caring for a child.

Researchers suggest that a lack of supportive policies, particularly paternity leave for new fathers, is part of the problem. The study revealed that between 61 and 77 per cent of fathers say they would work less if it meant that they could have more time with their children.

The report’s author, Nikki van der Gaag, comments, “When fathers take on their fair share of the unpaid care work, it can alter the nature of the relationships between men and women and children, as both fathers and mothers will have more time for their children, women are released from some of their ‘double burden,’ and fathers get to experience the joys, satisfactions, and stresses of caring for their children.”

What do you think?