Father Involvement in the Early Years : An International Comparison of Policy and Practice

Fatherhood is in transition and being challenged by often contradictory forces: societal mandates to be both an active father and provider, prevailing gender cultures, and the institutional arrangements in which fathers work and live. This book explores these dynamics in the context of cross-national policies and daily child care practices of fathers. It presents the current state of knowledge on father involvement with young children in six countries with unique policies related to parenting in general and support for fathers in particular: Finland, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, the UK, and the USA. These countries have different welfare state regimes, gender regimes, cultures of care and work-family reconciliation policies. This book examines these nations’ fatherhood rights and obligations, fathering practices, and father well-being. Specifically, current research is presented about the nature and extent of fathers’ activities with their young children (birth to entry into elementary school) in the context of demanding workplaces, degree of support via available family policies, and a culture demanding more father involvement. The chapters reflect the extent to which policy and practice are congruent with ideals of the active father who is both provider and nurturer of children in the unique cultural context of a country. The book concludes with a cross-national comparison, a conceptual model of fatherhood regimes, promising fatherhood initiatives, and recommendations for researchers and policy–makers. Fatherhood is in transition and being challenged by often contradictory forces: societal mandates to be both an active father and provider, men's own wish to be more involved with their children, and the institutional arrangements in which fathers work and live. This book explores these phenomena in the context of cross-national policies and their relation to the daily childcare practices of fathers. It presents the current state of knowledge on father involvement with young children in six countries from different welfare state regimes with unique policies related to parenting in general and fathers in particular: Finland, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, the UK and the USA.|Fatherhood is in transition and being challenged by often contradictory forces: societal mandates to be both an active father and provider, men's own wish to be more involved with their children, and the institutional arrangements in which fathers work and live. This book explores these phenomena in the context of cross-national policies and their relation to the daily childcare practices of fathers. It presents the current state of knowledge on father involvement with young children in six countries from different welfare state regimes with unique policies related to parenting in general and fathers in particular: Finland, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, the UK and the USA. The Institution Of Fatherhood Is In Transition, As Men Try To Balance Being Active And Involved Fathers With Meeting The Demands Of The Workplace. This Book Explores These Challenges In The Context Of Crossnational Policies And The Influences Of Those Policies On The Daily Childcare Practices Of Fathers. Highlighting The Increasing Interest In The Enduring Impact Of Early Life Experience, The Contributors Present The Most Up-to-date Research On Father Involvement With Young, Preschool-age Children In Six Countries—finland, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, The United Kingdom, And The United States—offering Insight Into The Effects Of Different National Policies Related To Parenting In General And Fathers In Particular. Machine Generated Contents Note: One.finland / Petteri Eerola -- Two.germany / Yve Stobel-richter -- Three.italy / Maria Letizia Tanturri -- Four.slovenia / Ziva Humer -- Five.the United Kingdom / Eloise Poole -- Six.the United States / Marina A. Adler. Edited By Marina A. Adler And Karl Lenz. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. An exploration the phenomena of contemporary fatherhood, this book presents the current state of knowledge on father involvement with young children in six countries: Finland, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, the UK and the USA.