Including dads could boost child outcomes and save taxpayers' money, says global research review

The Fatherhood Institute and leading experts from US and UK universities say a 'game change' is needed in the commissioning, design and evaluation of parenting programmes, to get fathers more involved and thus improve child outcomes and value-for-money.

Research shows clearly that fathers have substantial impact on child development, well-being, and family functioning. But a global review of evidence by researchers at Yale University and the Fatherhood Institute in London, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, found that they are largely ignored by parenting programmes in the UK and elsewhere.

Parenting programmes rarely attempt to engage with fathers or evaluate their impact on key outcomes for both parents, such as parenting and co-parenting quality, family functioning, parental stress or depression, or a range of child health outcomes, the researchers found.

Cost-effectiveness analysis is also rare, but some studies suggest parenting interventions can produce a healthy return on investment and research shows clearly that programmes work best where both parents are engaged, so well-designed, father-inclusive programmes should be more cost-effective.