Father figures

More and more dads are cutting back or changing their working hours to spend time with their children, reports Polly Curtis

My dad used to drop my siblings and me off at school each morning on the way to work. We'd listen to the radio and chat about our day and I was oblivious to the fact that this was the 1980s and for a man to say to his office that he wouldn't be in before 10am because he was doing the school run was very unusual. He got a lot of stick for it, but that's the way it worked in my house.

Fast forward 20 years and things are changing slowly. A mum's struggle makes daily headlines. Having a baby will cost me hundreds of thousands over my lifetime, according to one report. Parenthood is seen as a mum's dilemma. But new government research suggests that now dads are speaking up too.

The survey of 2,504 mothers of 17-month old babies and 1,512 of the children's fathers revealed that dads are now deeply involved in their kids' upbringing. The proportion of fathers working flexible hours to fit around childcare arrangements rose from 11% to 31% between 2002 and 2005. The number working from home doubled from 14% to 29%. It's all part, say fathers' campaigning groups, of a real change in the home and workplace.

"This is evidence that there is a social revolution going on, with fathers not just talking about being more involved with their children but renegotiating their lives to allow for it," says Jack O'Sullivan of information charity Fathers Direct. "It's really good for children, families and fathers themselves who get the benefit of being a dad."

The renegotiating of dads' roles includes working shorter hours (18% said they did), moving their working day backward or forward to fit around their families (14%), changing hours to fit with their partners' work (27%) and changing jobs altogether (22%).

It's just what my dad did - bar the change of job. But back in the 80s when the yuppy working culture meant 7.30am board meetings and 14-hour days, my dad's logic - that he was working to 7pm most days so a 10am start was fair - did not go down well.

Some believe little has changed. "We need to modernise the laws to keep up to track with the speed of this social change, to let fathers play the part they want to play in their children's lives," says O'Sullivan.

One of the government's proposals on this front is that parents should be able to share their parental leave allowance, so that parents could decide how to share out the year's leave when a new child is born. This will be a popular option for some parents - but could also cause some rows. A quarter of mums said they would consider sharing some of their 12 months of parental leave with their partner. But a third of new fathers would like the option to spend longer with their small children.

Announcing the research conducted by the Policy Study Institute, trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson said there had been a "positive culture change in the home and workplace. Mothers are taking more time off when their child is born, the majority of fathers are taking up their new entitlement to paternity leave, and the number of new dads now working flexibly has tripled."

He claimed the findings in the 146-page report were evidence that the government's policy is working. After maternity leave was extended from 18 to 26 weeks and unpaid additional leave from 29 to 52 weeks last year, half of mothers took 26 weeks leave compared with 9% in 2002 and a further 14% took the full 52 weeks, compared with just 5% three years previously.

But while the government is trumpeting the improved take-up of maternity and paternity leave and the evidence that dads are getting more involved, women who have children are still counting the cost to their careers. Some 17 months after the birth of their child, one in four mothers were not working; some had attempted a return to work only to give it up later. But fewer mothers switched jobs when they returned - something the report's authors suggested showed employers were taking their commitments to working mothers more seriously.

Three quarters of women who were not working said that they wanted to spend more time with their children. But 16% said they couldn't afford childcare, 13% said their job didn't provide suitable hours and 12% could not find the right childcare. The most likely to return to work were those in "higher level" jobs with better flexible working opportunities, or those with heavy mortgage commitments.

The government's report did not ask the same questions of the fathers. Why? Simply because so few are providing the principal care for their children. Dads might be more involved, but shifting their working day is not the same as shifting their entire careers.

Carena Rogers, policy officer at the National Family and Parenting Institute, says: "Mothers are still much more pressured to give up their careers and it can be very difficult to get back into work."

My dad might have been a trailblazer, but there's still a way to go.

Today's best video

  • Freerunner James Kingston climbs up a crane in Bangalore - video

    Freerunner James Kingston climbs up a crane in Bangalore

  • How to wear denim jackets - video

    How to wear denim jackets

    Lauren Cochrane shows us some examples of her favourite styles
  • Lucy 2014

    Luc Besson on Lucy

  • Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey leaves the field after being sent off

    Besiktas 0-0 Arsenal

    Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger unhappy after Aaron Ramsey gets two yellow cards

Today in pictures