Researchers from the University of East Anglia (Professor Margaret O'Brien and Dr Sara Connolly) and NatCen Social Research have been awarded funding from the ESRC Secondary Data Analysis Initiative to investigate fathers, work and families in twenty-first century Britain.

18th October 2012: ESRC-funded Research Seminar and Report Launch: Supporting Fathers after separation or divorce: evidence and insights  

You are invited to an ESRC-funded seminar on supporting fathers after separation or divorce. It will provide an opportunity for academics, practitioners and policy makers to hear about and debate new research findings on fathers in complex, contested and vulnerable family settings.

When: Thursday 18^th October, 1.30pm-4.30pm

Where: Friends House, Euston Rd, London: http://www.friendshouse.co.uk/getting-here
Cost: £40; concession: £20 for research students (includes executive summary and refreshments)

Click on the links to see the programme and booking form


Regional seminar and networking event: "Supporting fathers and families after separation or divorce"

Thanks to all who attended this event and to the Great Yarmouth Fathers Project who gave a valuable presentation. The power point slides that Georgia Philip and Margaret O'Brien used are available here. Read the Eastern Daily Press news article covering the event.

This event took place on Tuesday 10 July.

This event is principally aimed at organisations and professionals involved in supporting fathers and their families, but may also be of interest to research students and academics with an interest in families, welfare services or family policy.

When: Tuesday 10^th July, 8.30 (for 9.00 start) - 11.30

Where: Thomas Paine Study Centre, University of East Anglia, Norwich

Cost: Free, with breakfast/refreshments provided

Click on the links for the seminar programme and registration form

http://social.un.org/index/Family/InternationalObservances/TwentiethAnniversaryofIYF2014.aspx

The paper sets the context for policy development and makes a number of important recommendations. View the paper via the link below:

http://social.un.org/index/Family/InternationalObservances/TwentiethAnniversaryofIYF2014/BackgroundPapers.aspx

The paper will also form part of the UN event:  International Day of Families: Ensuring work-family balance, taking place on 15 May 2012.

Spring 2012: New collaborative research at The Centre for Research on the Child and family:

A new study entitled: Engaging with fathers who are recent arrivals in the UK:    a feasibility study of an innovative strategy for escape from disadvantage for parents and children is a collaborative project between UEA and The Fatherhood Institute, funded by Trust For London, from 2012-2014

Researchers Alice Haynes and Michela Franceschelli will conduct an evaluation of the FI’s ‘Dad Factor’ intervention, directed by Professor Margaret O’Brien. The ‘Dad Factor’ evaluation will ask: what was the aim of the programme, what was done, what was the process?  Intervention and control sites will be matched as far as possible to reduce the likelihood of pre-existing factors impacting on outcomes.  The two intervention sites will receive the ‘Dad Factor’. Pre and post questionnaires and other data collection will measure change in staff attitudes / beliefs / confidence, involvement of new-arrival fathers in the Children’s Centres and other services and outreach projects. Data collection points will be pre-intervention, post training and six month follow up.  Building on the findings, the Fatherhood Institute will reconfigure the ‘Dad Factor’ which, if judged successful, will be introduced in other children centres in London and across the UK.

Spring 2012: New research on ‘Fragile fathering’ at the University of Bristol:

Dr Esther Dermott leads this pilot project, funded by the British Academy and entitled: Fragile Fathering: negotiating intimacy and risk in parenting practice

The proposed project is a pilot study on how 'fragile fathers' experience parenthood and the ways that paternal experience is shaped by ideas of risk. It will examine the paternal practices of 2 sets of fathers: 1) divorced/separated fathers who sustain co-parenting arrangements; and 2) fathers who have children with multiple partners and intermittent parental contact.

Through case study and comparative analysis, the study will interrogate: how these fathers understand risks in relation to intimacy, sexuality and the body; the significance of popular media debates in shaping father-child interactions; the differential impact of social policies and legislation on paternal practices in particular contexts. The research will be highly relevant for those involved in policy and professional practice including social work, health professionals, and legal practitioners who work with fathers considered either 'risky' or 'at risk'.

June 2012: Inaugural meeting of the Work and Families Research Network, New York City, June 14-16, 2012: Panel symposium:  Fathers and Parental Leave; International Perspectives

This symposium, led by Professors Linda Haas (Indiana University-Indianapolis) and Professor Andrea Doucet (Brock University),  offers the latest updates on parental leave policies directed toward fathers available in nine nations with distinct approaches to fathers’ participation in early childcare: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and the UK.  The 14 symposium panellists are all members of the International Network on Leave Policies and Research, which has met annually since 2004 to promote a cross-national discussion of issues and trends in family leave policy and research. Professor Margaret O’Brien is a member of the Research Network and will be speaking at this significant and timely event.

The objectives of the symposium are to:

1. provide accurate information about parental leave in a variety of cultural settings
2. summarize research that has been conducted on fathers’ parental leave rights and use
3. promote discussion of the potential fathers’ rights to parental leave might have on the development of the dual-earner/dual-caregiver family.