The dearth of local research on fathers may be alleviated in the next year or so, as both the Families Commission and the Father & Child Trust are planning research projects.

The Families Commission wants to build on a 1999 survey by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, which tried to identify barriers to involved fatherhood.

“We’re looking at the obstacles to fathering and what information and services fathers want and need. We want fathers to be as fully and confidently engaged with their families as possible,” said newly appointed Commissioner, Kim Workman.

In particular the Commission feels that there is a need for quantitative, representative research on these issues.

The Father & Child Trust has applied for funding with the new Lotteries Community Sector Research Fund for a study on custodial fathers with young children under eight, in cooperation with Canterbury University Men’s Health lecturer Jeffrey Gage.

The study aims to identify the support needs of both the fathers and the children of these families.

Although a whopping 24,000 fathers in New Zealand live as sole parents with dependent children, according to 2006 Census data, both local and overseas research is extremely scarce.