Father and Child

Solo Fathers Needed For F&C Research

harald — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:12:11 +0000

Father & Child Trust is looking for fathers who have day-to-day care of at least one child eight years or under in either Christchurch or Auckland. The Trust is conducting what is believed to be the first study in New Zealand on the circumstances, issues and support of solo fathers and their young children.
Participants are being interviewed face-to-face on a range of questions about themselves and their children.
The Trust has been concerned for a whole that many solo father families appear to fall through the cracks of support services, and hopes to use the study results to raise awareness about the need for more inclusive service practice.
Please email Harald or phone us: (03) 982 2440 in Christchurch or (09) 5250 1690 in Auckland.

Help us win $15,000

harald — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:32:19 +0000

Father & Child has once again been shortlisted as one of six charities with a chance to win a donation of about $15,000 from Sovereign Sunshine. The donation will go to the charity with the most votes. Voting requires registration (to avoid double-voting): www.sovereignsunshine.co.nz.

New Father Support Worker in Chch

harald — Fri, 08 May 2009 00:32:06 +0000

After three weeks of somewhat disrupted service, Christchurch Father & Child Trust have found a new father support worker. Fathers dropping in at the Trust’s Hereford Street premises had found themselves facing closed doors during late March and early April more than we would have liked, as coordinator Harald Breiding-Buss and administrator Janet Albertson struggled under the added workload.

Ross Elliott

New boy on the block Ross Elliott comes with a background in social and youth work and started just after Easter. Due to insecurities around community funding at the moment the hours of the position were cut back, however, and the office will generally not be staffed after 3 pm now.

Ross replaces Jonathan Young, who has held the position for 3 1/2 years and quit for health reasons. Jonathan continues to do some work for Father & Child with youth clients, however.

F&C Worker Defends Teen Fatherhood in Media

harald — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:29:15 +0000

Christchurch Father & Child support worker Jonathan Young said that he knows of ‘a lot of 15 and 16-year-old parents that are a hell of a lot better than 40-year old parents’ in today’s Press, which features one of Father & Child’s supported teen dads, Jordan Cairns, on the cover. Jordan himself said he had ‘no regrets’ about becoming a dad so young.
The Press quotes Statistics New Zealand figures, showing a sharp increase in the number of 14 or 15 year-old boys becoming dads.
Jonathan Young said that for the young men fatherhood is often a way to turn their lives around into a more positive direction, if they have had a difficult background.
According to psychologist Dr Mark Byrd teenagers ‘make crappy parents’, however, because of unrealistic expectations.
Press article here

High Rates of Childcare Uptake in NZ

harald — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:39:19 +0000

New Zealand has internationally high rates of children attending childcare or pre-school education facilities. According to a new UNICEF report card from the Innocenti Research Centre 32% of 0-3 year old New Zealand children are enrolled in childcare, compared to an OECD average of 24%. For 3-6 year olds the rate is 92% (OECD average: 63%). No relationship is evident between the proportion of 0-3 year olds enrolled in childcare and the employment rates of mothers of 0-3 year olds (fathers’ employment rates were not considered). Despite high childcare uptake, New Zealand has fairly low rates of employment of women with dependent children under 3 (45%).
The report also compared parental leave entitlements between OECD countries. New Zealand’s provision came third-to-last, before only Australia and the US, both of which have no paid parental leave provisions at all.

Genetic Testing: Research Participants Wanted

harald — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:51:31 +0000

University of Auckland researchers from the Department of Psychology are conducting a study on attitudes towards genetic testing for unborn babies.
“This research is important as understanding how people feel about whether or not to undertake prenatal genetic testing is crucial in order to assist them through the process. Data collected through this research will provide key information for developing informational materials that can assist individuals in making these important decisions”, says researcher Cecile Muller. Cecile is keen to get a significant number of men into the study as she believes that they are ‘too often understudied’.
The research consists of a short internet-based survey. If you want to participate send a blank email to prenatal@auckland.ac.nz and you will get a reply with the details and a link to the online survey.

Research on Solo Dads Declined

harald — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 03:43:28 +0000

The Lottery Grants Board declined an application by Father & Child Trust and Canterbury University researcher Jeffrey Gage for funding to conduct research on single custodial fathers with small children. Although single custodial fathers form 18% of single parent families in New Zealand they never seem to have been researched in New Zealand.
The Trust is considering using its own resources to conduct the research, which they consider necessary to get at least some basic understanding about this family type.

Male PND Topic on Radio NZ

harald — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:24:46 +0000

Radio NZ National’s 9 to noon programme helped Father & Child Trust raise awareness for postnatal depression in men.

Father and Child Auckland Coordinator Brendon Smith and Wellington-based Board member and GP Mark Stephenson featured in a 20-minute segment on the topic, in which both the personal and the clinical aspects of the illness were discussed. Show host Kathryn Ryan also challenged a Ministry of Health representative for better recognition of the condition, which affects about one father for every two mothers.

Listen here:

Full segment on Radio New Zealand’s web site here.

Families Commission Researching Dads

harald — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:47:11 +0000

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.

Our spot, where the Dads got to stop!

brendon — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:15:16 +0000

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