Infants and children with highly involved fathers have been found to have more advance motor development and 'cognitive functioning'. Longer-term benefits include children enjoying better friendships with better-adjusted children from nursery school onwards (great for keeping them out of trouble and away from bullies). They also show fewer behaviour problems right through school and adolescence, tend to do better at school and are less likely to become teenage parents, or heavily involved in drugs, alcohol or criminality.
So, what is important about this new research from Newcastle University? It shows the link between father-involvement and higher IQ still evident at age 11 - it hasn't dropped off, as many early influences do. The research also found that when fathers living in two-parent families spent relatively little time with their children, their impact on their IQs was - zilch! It was, in fact, no higher than the non-impact of totally absent fathers. This has also been found in terms of transmission of 'personal values', with low-involved-at-home-fathers no more influential than out-of-home dads who have little or no contact with their children.
What does all this mean for practitioners? First, they have good evidence for encouraging all fathers to put in as much time as they can with their children, from infancy on.
Second, to recognise that engaging fathers in this way helps practitioners meet existing goals. Outcomes for children are likely to be improved. And this isn't just good for children - it's good for the service. Engaging with fathers is likely to contribute positively to the inspection grade awarded to early years establishments by Ofsted. Everybody wins!
