Information for Dads

The Netmums dad’s pages

Articles in the Netmums  dads’ pages include : ‘The trouble with being a Dad’, ‘getting a balance and planning’, ‘Dads are important!’, ‘Life as a working Dad’, ‘Stay-at-home Dads’. There is also a reference section containing ‘all the stuff for dads on netmums and beyond’. 

Articles on work-life balance for dads

 Research Finds Today's Fathers Are Struggling for Work-Life Balance

Extract from article: “New research from My Family Care into the mind-sets of working fathers in the UK has found that nearly two thirds (60%) of fathers who have children under school age say they don't have a working pattern that suits them […]. A quarter (28%) of all fathers say they are unhappy with their work-life balance and more than half (53%) say they want to work in a different way to their current working pattern, either by having the ability to work remotely from home or leave the office an hour earlier.”

Why Work-Life Balance Is Just As Impossible for Dads

Extract from article:  “We're struggling with the same issues working moms face, says MONEY reporter and first-time dad Taylor Tepper, who reveals that sometimes he feels like a bad dad.

Working fathers want more time with their children too, says report

Extracts from article:  “About two in five men fear that asking for flexible working arrangements would result in their commitment to their job being questioned, and would negatively affect their chances of promotion.”

"At the moment, employers think of women as a potential burden because they worry they will want flexible conditions. It will be helpful for women and their prospects once men are also seen as likely to demand flexible working."

Why don't more dads work part-time?

Extracts from article: “Nearly two-thirds of fathers would like to spend less time at work and more time at home. What's stopping them? And what do those dads who have made the career sacrifice feel about their decision?”

"While I was on paternity leave, I felt as though my partner and I were sharing the childcare equally and that felt great. Now I've gone back to work I feel I'm missing out. I can't afford to do anything but work full-time now my partner is raising our daughter and, anyway, my employers wouldn't allow me to go part-time."

Why are fathers left out of the work-life balance debate?

Extracts from article: “Fathers face long hours and inflexible workplaces that are preventing them from playing the role in their children’s lives that they would like, argues Lucy Powell, shadow children’s minister

That dads today take such a keen interest in such issues is a very good thing. But unfortunately the experience of too many fathers is a frustrating one filled with barriers. I hear of problems with paternity leave, difficulties working flexible hours and prejudice from workmates and bosses when trying to become more involved as dads.

That only 17 per cent of men have even asked for flexible working, according to the Government’s latest figures should act as a stimulus for all of us to look at what “family friendly” really means for the workplace and about the barriers that parents face.” 

Fathers twice as likely as mums to have flexible working requests turned down

 Extract from article: “The Employment Act 2002 gives parents the right to request a flexible working pattern, which can include part-time work, job sharing, working from home, compressed hours (full-time work spread over fewer days), and various forms of flexitime (an employee works certain “core” hours but chooses when to start and finish each day). But more than a decade after the scheme was introduced, men are still twice as likely to be turned down in their applications for flexible work. “

“It’s really depressing that it hasn’t improved in ten years,” said Ms Jackson, “ I’d have hoped that the cultural biases would have become less evident since 2004,” she said. “There’s still a belief that flexible working means part time and part time means not committed,” she said.

Fathers are happier when doing more housework, says study.

Extract from article: "This is creating a massive problem for both men and women. Women are having their careers blocked by employers who assume that, once children come along, their commitment to the workplace will be severely compromised. But the same myth is also disadvantaging men who find themselves being their child's main or only carer, because employers aren't offering them work-life balance choices. It is time workplace attitudes changed to recognise the massive changes that have taken place in family practices in the 21st century."