The Families Commission has contracted Christchurch researchers Research First led by Carl Davidson to undertake a literature review of fathers research and a representative survey on Kiwi dads. This will be the first study on any aspect of fatherhood since 1999 involving more than a handful of respondents.

The Commission wants to base the new survey on some of the results of the ‘Fathering in the New Millenium’ study conducted by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner in 1999. 92% of the 2,000 respondents interviewed for that study believed there should be a social expectation of equal joint parenting, and 65% believed even day-to-day care should be split evenly between mothers and fathers.

Father and Child Trust were very proud to be at the Parent and Child Show last weekend in Auckland. Our small stand was the first time a dedicated fathers group was present, and our position between the main stage and the cafeteria gave us great foot traffic.

We shared songs to sing at bedtime, magazines and stories. We had many thanks, and comments like ‘It was great to find someone supporting Dads in this oestrogen dominated role.’

So we hope for many more magazine subscribers, website visitors and new faces.

We meet every Monday at 11am for ‘Jingle and Jive’ with toddler age kids,
or this Monday evening, our group meeting 7-9pm, all welcome.

Meetings: Onehunga Community Center
83 Church St, beside Onehunga Library.

Contact: Brendon Smith 021 892 980