Fathers Direct

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fathers Direct is a UK national information centre on fatherhood. It is a government-sponsored [1] charity (reg. no. 1075104) founded in 1999 [2] by professionals with expertise in social work, family policy, business development and communications.

Fathers Direct aims to create a society that:

gives all children a strong and positive relationship with their fathers
supports co-operative parenting
supports both men and women as both carers and earners

Fathers Direct's core principles are to foster:

the well-being and protection of children
gender equality
support for parents, as specified in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
support for families most in need
supportive relationships within families, particularly between mothers and fathers
support by other family members, whether or not their relationship to the child is biological
recognition of the wide diversity of families in the United Kingdom and the many different ways in which families organise care of children
co-operation with organisations advocating for children, for women, for men, for gender equality and for the socially excluded

Fathers Direct works in Scotland in partnership with Children in Scotland and in Wales in partnership with Children in Wales.

Fathers Direct published the following statistics in 2004 [3]:

In separated and single parent households 55% of children see their fathers less than monthly, 33% have no contact at all.
12.5% never knew their father (Smith M (2004) Relationships of children in stepfamilies with their non-resident fathers, Family Matters Vol 67 pp28-35)
Seventy-five per cent of non-resident fathers would like to see more contact occurring (Smyth B & Ferro A (2002) 'When the difference is night and day: parent-child contact after separation', Family Matters Vol 63 pp 54-59).
In one study of cohabiting parents, 47% of the fathers had either been their children's primary carers or had taken substantial responsibility for their care before separation - yet none had been awarded through the Courts, or had felt able to obtain through non-court agreements, primary care of their children after separation. (Lewis C, Papcosta A & Warin J (2002) Cohabitation, separation & fatherhood. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation)

David Bartlett, a founder of Fathers Direct, also founded the Gender and Child Welfare Network.