Dads play an important role in their children’s lives and in the lives of the family as a whole, not just on Father’s Day but throughout their entire lives. Studies of Australian fathers confirm that Dads play a vital role in their families and complementary to that of the mother. [1]
While some fathers may feel their role in the family is overlooked, particularly following separation, in our modern society it is recognised very well, that fathers play a pivotal role in the emotional well-being of their children; fathers are capable caretakers of their children. The last century thinking of looking at the father as financial provider and stern disciplinarian and the mother being the homemaker and primary parent has been replaced with a more equal role in modern family life.
This change has been effected through the increased participation of both parents in the workforce and recognition by employers of the needs of the family taking a greater priority than there was in the past. Most parents play an equal role in raising the children, each parent defining their own role in the family.
Parents who shared the parenting prior to separation expect to continue their parenting role post separation. Some parents find even greater satisfaction in their parenting role following separation, forging a new and warmer relationship with their children than before. The presumption of equal shared parenting from separated households is reflected in the Family Law Act which in essence, uses shared parenting as the starting point and recognises that fathers play just as much a pivotal role in the emotional well-being of their children as do mothers. Fathers after all are multiskilled, moving between the roles of repairers of broken bikes, a wounded pride, a little girl’ s broken heart, stern disciplinarians, the finders of lost toys and the tellers of the world’s corniest jokes
Fathers play an important role in the development of who their children are now and the adults they will become. Girls have Dad as their role model of what a good man is. Boys too learn how to treat a woman by observation of their father’s relationship with the adult women in his life, the child’s mother, grandmothers and aunts. How a man treats these women impacts in turn on the adult relationships children form.
Children with engaged Dads in their lives, who have positive role models and a good relationship with their fathers, have better adult outcomes. Various studies have found links between fathering (co-parenting and parental warmth) and children’s socio-emotional and learning outcomes, even after taking into account the contribution of mothers.
For children and families, fathering really “matters”. There are tangible benefits to be gained from an actively involved father in families, no matter what the status of the family may be.
This Father’s Day, Dads across Australia are being there, actively teaching important life skills to their children. When the family says “Thank you, Dad”, they are thanking you for your true legacy – the health and well-being of your children, our future generation.
[1] 2010 , Fathering in Australia Among Couple Families With Young Children:
Leave a Reply