Finding the ‘missing men’ is a key goal to a new study headed by Victoria University research fellow Paul Callister. The study addresses concerns about data quality when it comes to men, and the research brief states that “there is a group of men who are actually ‘missing’ in terms of educational participation and attainment, from family life, in labour market participation and in terms of reaching old age”.
The 3-year study casts its net wide, looking at a gender angle on education, migration, economic factors that affect work/life decisions and other factors.
Men have been included for the first time in the Human Rights Commission’s bi-annual discrimination survey in 2006, where respondents are asked which groups they think suffer discrimination. 30% of respondents felt men are discriminated against, compared to 36% for women.

A literature review undertaken by the Maxim Institute, generally considered a Right-Wing Think Tank, found that fathers do indeed provide a unique contribution to their children’s lives. The benefits of father involvement ‘held true after controlling for a range of factors’. The ‘unique contribution’ was due to father-child attachment, role modelling, fathers play and some other factors, and includes benefits such as better socio-psychological adjustment, educational outcomes and plain happiness.
The author, Daniel Reed, also says that there is a ‘joint’ positive contribution of mothers and fathers, which would not exist if either one was absent.
Amongst other recommendations the author thinks that a ‘cultural change’ is required that values fathers ‘as parents in their own right rather than simply being viewed as support persons for mothers’. Failure to do so by friends, family and people working with the family was a major predictor in reduced father involvement.
The report is also highly critical of media portrayal of fathers and reminds broadcasters that Codes of Standards require them to be ‘socially responsible’. This includes soaps, sit-coms and advertisements:
“Portrayals of men as ineffective parents needing constant supervision and guidance from their spouse or partner […] subtly and overtly affects the way fathers view themselves affect social expectations about their value as fathers”, the report says.

A study published in the Australian Journal for Early Childhood found that in all but the highest quality childcare centres increased levels of stress hormones are found in children.
Researchers Sims, Guilfoyle and Parry measured cortisol levels in the saliva of children attending childcare. Cortisol is a hormone produced in response to stress, and generally is highest in the morning before gradually declining through the day.
The study found that, except for childcare centres rated by Australian government standards as ‘High Quality’ , cortisol levels in children’s saliva tended to increase further rather than decline, indicating a chronic stress status.

Panel members at a public meeting in Christchurch marking ‘White Ribbon Day’ agreed that the government’s approach to family violence is flawed.
White Ribbon Day is originally a Canadian initiative asking men to wear a white ribbon to show they are against violence against women.
The panel members, Ken Clearwater from Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse, Harald Breiding-Buss from Father & Child, Daryl Gregory from He Waka Tapu and Barrister Steven van Bohemen all warned that lumping together domestic violence with child abuse can lead to worse outcomes for children.
Gregory advocated a family approach in all but the most severe cases of domestic violence, and said that he thinks the Domestic Violence Act needed to be scrapped and the issue looked at anew.
Several members in the audience felt that White Ribbon Day further perpetrates the myth of men (and only men) being inherently violent. One member called for domestic violence accusations to be properly investigated, like any other crime.

Researchers at the University of Magdeburg, Germany, found that fathers encourage brain development—in rats. Not generally considered the most paternal species, some rat fathers huddle with their offspring, lick them and even give them piggyback rides. In father-deprived rat babies the networking between brain cells in certain ‘higher associative forebrain areas’ was reduced by a third.
In the study published in ‘Brain Research’ researchers Ovtsharoff, Helmeke and Braun conclude that “Our results query the general assumption that a father has less impact on the synaptic maturation of his offspring’s brain than the mother.”

Employers have to grant a request for flexible working hours by an employee with dependent children under a new law passed in November.
Employers can only refuse this request under certain circumstances, including:
Re-organising the work around other staff, or recruiting new staff, is not possible
Extra costs are too high, or restructuring is in progress
Customer demand cannot be met any other way.
The request would impact negatively on performance.
The request also cannot undermine any collective employment agreement in force at the workplace.
The law is expected to benefit mainly fathers whose caregiving roles are less acknowledged by employers than mothers.
In disputes the matter will be referred to a Labour Inspector first rather than the Courts. Employers are liable for compensation towards the employee of $2,000 in the case of non-compliance.
Law sponsor, Green MP Sue Kedgley, believes the law will change ‘work place culture’. The National Party was opposed to it on the grounds that employers already offer flexi-time voluntarily.
The Council of Trade Unions believes the law should be extended to all employees, not just those caring for dependants, partly to avoid discrimination by employers against parents.