Nursery World - Lone fathers: Just Dad

Why do single fathers continue to suffer a sense of isolation now that more father-friendly initiatives are getting underway? The answers are not so simple, writes Wendy Wallace

The words of one lone father, posted on a dads' website, paint a bleak picture of single parenthood for men: 'Housework never gets done, I'm skint, and it's impossible when one of them is ill - I don't recommend it.' But around ten per cent of all single parents are fathers, so are the new father-friendly initiatives addressing their needs?

Lone fatherhood is nothing new; men have always stepped into the gap left when a mother died or departed. Currently, some two per cent of all children under 16 live with just dad, according to Lynda Clarke of London University's Centre for Population Studies. There are around 161,000 families headed by lone fathers - and ten times as many headed by women on their own.

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