New Fathers Misunderstood Says Nelson Study

A study by the Nelson-Marlborough Institute of Technology and the Public Health Service has found that new fathers are worried about different things than what their partners think they are worried about!

The new fathers participating in the study ranked three issues most important of all: the lack of involvement in the transition process to parenthood, a stressed relationship with the partner, and the joys of being a dad.

However, the mothers in the study thought their men are at least just as concerned with money, sex and the gender of the baby – issues that were mentioned in the men’s interviews, but not even ranked as important.

“The data ranked as important by the women (but not by the men) tends to reflect commonly held views about how men respond to fatherhood.” write researchers David Mitchell and Philip Chapman.

“This raises questions about discourse that is dominant, where it originates and whose interests it reflects.”
The researchers acknowledge the limitations of their study, which involved only 11 couples who were interviewed in gender-specific groups before the birth and 6 months after.

The fathers in the study also widely criticised not being involved by midwives, Plunket nurses or other providers and ranked this as one of the top issues.

Father & Child Trust Coordinator Harald Breiding-Buss, who has worked with men in antenatal classes for 9 years, agrees with the findings. “The failure of ‘maternity’ services to address, or even know about, new fathers real concerns is a major contributing factor to relationships making an irreversible turn for the worse around this time”, he says.

“We’re having a 21st century maternity service system based on 1950′s stereotypical beliefs.”

Previous research by the Mitchell/Chapman team had found similar discrepancies between views and needs that men expressed to their interviewers, and perceptions held by maternity health professionals

Father Contribution Understated—Study

A study sponsored by the Families Commission’s “Blue Skies’ research fund found that available family data in New Zealand understates the contribution of separated fathers.

Victoria University researcher Paul Callister and Massey University’s Stuart Birks examined family data collection methods in New Zealand and found they do not accurately describe the living circumstances of children.

“There is considerable diversity in parenting arrangements, and one major group is often overlooked. These are the children of separated biological parents who, to varying degrees, have two active parents and two households.”, says the study.

The study comes at a time when Statistics New Zealand, the government-funded but independent statistics department, is conducting a review of official family statistics with an eye on improving family data.

Callister and Birks also take issue with terms often used to describe family types in the media and official documents. They conclude:

“As well as there being gaps in data collections, the language of research and policy debates is lagging behind the changes in family types. Many of the words currently used, such as ‘non-custodial’ parent and ‘non-resident’ parent have connotations of exclusion rather than inclusion. In some situations this will reflect reality, but in others the terms are misleading.

“While most researchers try to differentiate between single-parent households and single-parent families, the term ‘single-parent family’ can still be found in many research publications even when it is quite clear that the children involved have two active parents.”

Father & Child Trust has made a submission to Statistics New Zealand for their current review, emphasising that the lack of reliable data about fathers’ parenting contribution and situation may prevent necessary changes in the delivery of social and community services, and makes it hard for community organizations to obtain funding for working with fathers.