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INVOLVEMENT OF FATHERS’S IN PARENTING SURVEY

 

FATHER’S INVOLVEMENT IN EVERYDAY PARENTING – SURVEY BY PODAR INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION – 2017

 

Good news for children’s day, fathers who were till date quite invisible when it came to involvement in parenting are now more involved and active when it comes to everyday parenting of their children. They are now aware of which school the child attends, or which class and even attend their open house and events.

 

A common complain of mothers is that fathers are not involved in every day parenting and that they have to bear the full burden of parenting. Fathers are just as essential to healthy child development as mothers. Psychology Today explained, “Fatherhood turns out to be a complex and unique phenomenon with huge consequences for the emotional and intellectual growth of children.”

 

Erik Erikson, a pioneer in the world of child psychology, asserts that a father’s love and a mother’s love are qualitatively different. Fathers “love more dangerously” because their love is more “expectant, more instrumental” than a mother’s love. A father brings unique contributions to the job of parenting a child that no one else can replicate. Following are some of the most compelling ways that a father’s involvement makes a positive difference in a child’s life.

 

By 18 months babies can tell the difference between mothers and fathers interaction with them. Both mothers and fathers parent differently. This diversity, in itself, provides children with a broader, richer experience of contrasting relational interactions. Whether they realize it or not, children are learning, by sheer experience, that men and women are different and have different ways of dealing with life, other adults and children. This understanding is critical for their development.

 

This survey was conducted in Mumbai with 4800 fathers to understand if every day involvement in parenting by fathers has improved over the years or not.

 

Good news for children that it has but there is still some scope of improvement by dads in giving time, learning to discipline their children and helping children with school work. Many fathers are not so involved in helping around the house or in household chores and most fathers are not happy with the amount of time they are able to spend with their kids, they feel they should be spending more time.

 

Dr. Swati Popat Vats President Podar Education Network and Early Childhood Association feels that these results are a good sign that children today are benefitting by equal involvement by both parents and this will be good for the overall emotional development and emotional intelligence in children. There will be less tendency towards depression, suicidal tendencies as children who have a strong bond with not one by two parents will grow up to be more resilient. Both relationships remain psychologically important even when there are disparities in the two parents’ levels of participation in child care.

 

Some results are as follows-

  1. 70% fathers are now making a conscious effort to reduce their travel for work.
  2.  65% fathers spend 2 or more hours everyday with their children .
  3. only 33% spend time doing household chores or reading to their children, most dads still spend time playing on technology or watching television.
  4. 88% fathers need the wife around when they take children out and only 12% are confident to go out alone with their children.
  5. 62% read to their children
  6. 52% play outdoors with their children
  7. 68% are aware of their child’s daily routine
  8. 75% are feel guilty of not spending time with their children
  9. 34% have attended all open houses
  10. 50% have attended all events in school
  11. disciplining , saying no and spending time with kids are still an issue with most fathers
  12. 61% feel that they do not practice guilt parenting
  13. 59% feel that their wives are happy with their everyday involvement in parenting
  1. How often do you travel out of town in a month for work?
Every week  Every 15 days Every alternate day Once a month Never
9% 21% 18% 58% 12%

 

  1. How many hours/minutes every day do you spend with your child/children?
10 minutes 30 minutes One hour  Two hours More than two hours
3% 6% 26% 52% 13%

 

  1. How many hours/minutes do you spend with your child/children on Sunday and holidays?
Full day One hour Two hours Less than one hour More than two hours but not full day
4% 32% 36% 14% 14%

 

  1. How do you spend this time with your child/children when you are at home?
Doing homework and projects with them Watching television Playing games Doing household chores or cooking Sitting and reading to them
16% 32% 30% 11% 12%
  1. How do you spend this time with your child/children when you take them out?
Watching movies Shopping Playing games Doing what they like Taking them out for dinner/lunch
12% 26% 20% 20% 22%

 

 

  1. How often do you go out with your child/children?
Every day Once a week Once a month Not fixed Never
18% 28% 30% 22% 2%
  1. Do you go out alone or with your wife and family?
With wife and kids With wife kids and family With kids alone
60% 28% 12%
  1. Do you read to your child/children?
Yes No
62% 38%
  1. Do you play any outdoor games with your child/children?
Yes No
52% 48%
  1. Do you think your child/children are picking up any unhealthy habits from you?
Yes No
32% 68%

 

  1. Are you aware of your child’s/children’s daily routine?
Yes No
68% 32%
  1. As a father what do you think are your best at?
Sharing responsibility with your wife Helping in household chores Helping with the children Teaching the children and helping them with homework Disciplining
37% 8% 15% 16% 24%
  1. As a father what are you guilty about not giving your child?
Money / things Time  Good habits
12% 75% 13%
  1. When at home how many hours are you without any kind of contact with technology?(mobile phone, computers, television, ipad, etc)
One hour Less than one hour More than one hour
15% 30% 55%
  1. How many school events of your child/children have you attended in this year?
None All Some
12% 50% 38%
  1. How many open houses in school have you attended in this year ?
None All Some
20% 34% 46%
  1. What do you find most difficult about your role as a father?
Disciplining Helping them with homework Spending time with them Giving equal time to both your wife and kids Saying no to them when required
22% 18% 24% 15% 21%
  1. Do you think you practice guilt parenting?
Yes No
39% 61%
  1. How happy do you think your wife is with your involvement in parenting?
Very happy Not so happy Not happy at all Happy sometimes
59% 7% 12% 22%
  1. What household chores do you jointly participate in or have taken responsibility for?
  2. Household work like doing the dishes/cooking/cleaning
  3. Putting kids to bed
  4. Waking them up and getting them ready for school
  5. Taking them for different classes/birthday parties
  6. Disciplining
  7. Nappy changing/toilet training
  8. Handling the difficult questions like sex education
  9. Reading to them
  10. Helping with the homework
  11. Bank work
  12. Groceries
  13. Dealing with household staff
  14. Maintenance
  15. Budgeting and finance handling
  16. I equally participate with my wife in all household work

 

WE DIVIDED THESE INTO HOUSE RELATED AND KIDS RELATED WORK AND GOT THIS

House related work Kid related work
59% 41%

 

RESULTS IN GRAPH

 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE INVOLVEMENT OF FATHER’S IN PARENTING SURVEY IN GRAPH

 

PRESS COVERAGE 

 

1. Fathers getting more involved in parenting, says survey. Click here for weblink.

 

2. 88% Indian fathers are not confident of taking child out without wife around: Survey. Click here for weblink.

 

3. Fathers getting more involved in parenting, says survey. Click here for weblink.

 

4. Fathers getting more involved in parenting, says survey. Click here for weblink.

 

5. Fathers getting more involved in parenting, says survey. Click here for weblink.

 

6. Fathers getting more involved in parenting, says survey. Click here for weblink.

 

7. Fathers getting more involved in parenting, says survey. Click here for weblink.

 

8. Indian dads getting more involved in parenting and 65 per cent spend up to two hours with kids daily, finds survey. Click here for weblink.

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