Information

What They Say About HomeDads

Children are Sweden's top priority

by Fergus Walsh

In a report highlighting inequality in levels of child mortality, Fergus Walsh visits Sweden, where parents get 480 days off after the birth of a child. Each parent must take 60 days off, but are free to divide the remaining 360 between them. Most of this time off is paid at 80% of normal pay, although many employers top that up to 90%, and the time off is valid until the child is eight years old. "You often see men with pushchairs in the street, and it's common for fathers to take six months off."
BBC News, 22 Jan 2008 | Comments

Exec about the house

by Viv Groskop

Increasing numbers of City high-flyers are taking the "daddy track", combining their career with spending more time with their children. In recent years one in 10 working men in the UK has increased the amount of time he spends at home. According to a TUC report on changing work habits, between 2004 and 2006 1.2 million men asked their employer if they could work flexibly. (Sixty per cent had their request accepted.)
Telegraph, 19 Jan 2008 | Comments

Raising kids? Sorry, it's not a job for the boys

by Tom Sykes

"Most men of my acquaintance are reluctant to admit to government pollsters what they confess freely down the pub to their male friends - that they would rather be 100ft down a coalmine than spending their days sterilising bottles, changing nappies or watching one more episode of Dora-the-bloody-Explorer."

Daily Mail, 10 Jan 2008 | Comments

Darling, I'll be late home

by Carol Sarler

So Harriet Harman wants to lure men back to look after baby. According to this article, she's fighting a losing battle.
Times, 9 Jan 2008 | Comments

Why a stay-home dad can be bad for boys (but not girls)

A father who stays at home to bring up his infant son could be damaging the child's future chances in life, suggests a state-funded research project from Bristol University. Boys looked after as toddlers by stay-at-home dads are slower and less ready for education than other children when they start school, but intriguingly, the same does not apply to girls.
Evening Standard, 19 Nov 2007 | Comments

The paternal instinct

by Blake Morrison

The number of men choosing to stay at home and raise the kids has doubled in the past 14 years. Blake Morrison asks them what it's like and why they do it.
Guardian, 16 Jun 2007 | Comments

Sad dad or home-based hero?

by Fiona McNeill

Gary Northeast, HomeDad.org.uk's press officer and the father of three-year-old twin girls, is irritated by the "rubber gloves and pinnies" image of stay-at-home dads that, he believes, is put about by the media. "It's just lazy stereotyping," he says. "What annoys me even more is the idea that staying at home with the kids is just an excuse for watching football on telly and drinking beer." Telegraph, 11 Jul 2006

The Rise of the House Father

by Elaine Morgan

HE used to get up at 6.30 am so he could shower, shave, put on his suit and be at his desk by 8. His day still starts at the crack of dawn. He still works for the most discerning and demanding of clients. But nowadays there is no suit, no desk and no real need to shave. He is at the cutting edge of the latest employment trend. He is a full-time dad. New Scientist, 27 Aug 2005

Saint Dad

by Steve Cochrane

Becoming a 'house husband' is an instant passport to sainthood. Steve Cochrane takes time out from polishing his halo to explain why. Guardian, 27 Jul 2005

The Work Life Balance Debate: Full-Time Fathers

by Jess Darby

There’s a certain image of stay-at-home dads - children with unbrushed hair, wearing odd socks and ankleswinger trousers — that is somewhat unfair ... A lot of the success of a father as main carer hinges on whether or not the mother can surrender control and leave her partner to get on with the job.
Families Online, 29 Apr 2005

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