In recent years the role of fathers has become a central issue in the field of family policy. Early policy debates focused on 'absentee fathers' and their economic contribution in raising children, rather than the relationships that they formed with them. A father's contribution to his child's welfare and development and the role of policy makers in supporting them, was given limited consideration until the late 1990's following the Government's first consultation paper on the family entitled Supporting Families (1998).
This green paper set out the Government's initial proposals to support parents and their children, recognising the changing nature of families and family structures, and the need for service providers to become more responsive to their needs. It emphasised the importance of involving fathers to support the early development of parenting skills and the "crucial role" that they play in their children's upbringing. While this marked a shift in the policy focus on fathers, British social attitudes and cultural stereotypes of their role as 'breadwinners' and 'providers' persisted influencing attitudes towards parenthood and obstacles for fathers to become fully engaged in mainstream family services traditionally used by mothers.
Fathers and parenting services
Over the last ten years public policy has evolved in line with demographic trends, such as the increase in the numbers of working mothers, higher divorce rates, and more births outside marriage. This has influenced Government initiatives and strategies for the family that now place an equal emphasis on the need to involve both mother and father in parenting services. These include national programmes and policies such as Sure Start that has 'working with fathers' as one of its main priorities; Every Parent Matters (2007) and Think Family (2007), where both adults' and children's services join up around the needs of the family. Other initiatives has led to specific guidance targeting young fathers, and within the Children's Plan (2007) public services are required to improve the way that it engages and involves fathers, particularly those who are lone parents.
As set out in the Children's Plan, the Academy will work closely with the Children's Workforce Development Council to ensure that 'occupational standards and training for the workforce reflect the need for public services to engage with both father and mother except where there is a clear risk to the child to do so'.
In June 2008, the Government launched a White Paper entitled Joint birth registration: recording responsibility. This new legislation not only requires unmarried fathers' names be registered on their babies' birth certificates, but also includes for the first time a duty on perinatal services to address fathers directly.
Despite the pregnancy rate for under-18s falling to its lowest level for 20 years, Britain still has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Western Europe. According to the Office of National Statistics in 2006 there were 39,003 teenage pregnancies in the UK, but how many are attributable to teenage fathers remains unknown due to a lack of official figures. However the potential numbers of teenage fathers in the UK is high, and this is now recognised in policies and strategies designed to support teenage parents, which emphasise the need to engage with young fathers, as well as mothers, who have reported feeling unwelcome or ignored when it comes to accessing family services.
In July 2007, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) launched a strategy entitled Teenage Parents Next Steps: Guidance for Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts (2007, DH & DCSF). The strategy aims to support teenage parents and how to improve outcomes for them and for the first time directly addresses the needs of young fathers and some of the barriers that can prevent them getting involved in their child's upbringing.
Recent research
The Trust for the Study of Adolescence has completed a study of how 33 organisations around the country support young fathers. "Supporting Young Fathers: Examples of Promising Practice" draws together examples of 'good practice' of work with young fathers from around England.