Parents’ Attitudes About Gender Roles In Caregiving And Practices: Perspectives From A Community-Led Parenting Empowerment Program In Rural Kenya And Zambia

Background: This study was part of a project funded by the Hilton Foundation in partnership with Episcopal Relief and Development to conduct implementation research in rural communities in Kenya and Zambia. This involves testing the feasibility and effectiveness of community-based parenting empowerment in improving nurturing care of young children in rural communities in Zambia and Kenya. Few studies have investigated fathers’ roles in nurturing care of young children (birth-age to 3), particularly responsive care and stimulation (i.e. providing opportunities for early learning) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Fathers are often perceived to be mainly responsible for the provision of the family's economic needs. However, past studies have demonstrated that fathers’ involvement in parenting has great significance for the child’s holistic growth and development.Methods: Qualitative interviews and discussions with caregivers (primary caregivers and secondary caregivers) with children below three years, program volunteers (ECD Promoters and faith leaders), Moments That Matter Program implementers and government officials involved in the program implementation. The study reported in this paper aimed to establish the effects of the parenting empowerment program on more gender-equal attitudes about gender roles in parenting and actual caregiving practices by fathers (who are not the primary caregivers), after participating in the Moments That Matter (MTM) Program in Kenya and Zambia for 24 months. Qualitative data were collected at three-time points (baseline, midline and endline). Results: The findings show that the MTM Program resulted in improved gender-equal parenting attitudes and practices among mothers/other primary caregivers and fathers. Study participants reported that most fathers were actively involved in parenting and caregiving due to their participation in the MTM Program. Conclusion: The study findings provide evidence that targeted parenting programs can influence changes in perceived gender roles in parenting.

The Working Mom Blueprint: Winning at Parenting Without Losing Yourself

In The Working Mom Blueprint, Dr Casares offers a practical plan that covers setting priorities, cultivating self-care, finding child care, establishing an equal parenting partnership, delegating whenever appropriate, and more. https://shop.aap.org/the-working-mom-blueprint-paperback/

Change and Stability in Public Beliefs About Same-Sex Family Rights in Norway in 2008, 2013, and 2017

Introduction In Norway, legal measures securing equal marriage and parenting rights for same- and different-sex couples took effect on January 1, 2009. The aim of this study was to assess Norwegian public beliefs about lesbian and gay family rights in the period of 2008–2017. Methods Three nationwide surveys representing the adult Norwegian population were conducted with a time series design (data collected in 2008, 2013, and 2017, n = 1246, 1250, and 1250, respectively) utilizing Web-based questionnaires. Results Over the 9-year period, there was a decline in negative beliefs about lesbian and gay parenting and marriage rights and gradually less concern about children growing up with same-sex parents, more so for men than for women. Beliefs about equal parenting rights remained more negative than beliefs about equal marriage rights. At all points in time, concern for children’s welfare was the strongest predictor of beliefs about equal parenting rights for same- and different-sex couples, and for all points in time, being older contributed to the explained variance. Conclusions We discuss how the findings may relate to policy developments concerning LGBTI rights in Norway. LGBTI rights have gained increasingly significant symbolic value in the public domain, and we suggest that it is productive to reflect on findings in relation to new landscapes of political and public discourse in Norway and Europe. Social Policy Implications The results reveal contemporary supportive public opinion regarding LGBTI family rights, which currently gives lawmakers a foundation for further institutionalizing LGBTI rights in domains such as in schools at every level and in institutions offering family support and counseling. However, there is also a need for political awareness of emerging discourses linking questions on same-sex family rights to broader divisive sociopolitical processes.

Who Cares? An Event History Analysis of Co-parenthood Dynamics in Belgium

Until the end of the twentieth century, child custody arrangements after separation typically continued the gendered pre-separation parenting division, with mothers taking up childcare and fathers paying child support. Recently, there has been a significant rise in co-parenting after separation, reflecting the trend towards more socio-economic, work- and childcare-related gender equality during the relationship. However, it remains unclear to what extent the organization of the pre-separation household dominates over important changes in the lives and labor force participation of parents after separation in choosing to co-parent.This study uses longitudinal Belgian register data to consider the effect of post-separation dynamics in parents’ life course and labor force participation in deciding to co-parent. While certain pre-separation characteristics remain predictive of co-parenting, our results suggest a societal trend towards co-parenting as the parenting norm. Increased time in paid work positively affects co-parenting probabilities, but we find no effect of a post-separation income increase, even though this would imply greater bargaining power to obtain sole custody. As such, the investigated post-separation changes seem to be an indication of parents moving towards supporting and attempting to gain gender equal parenting after separation.

Negotiating parenting practices: the arguments and justifications of Finnish couples

This article explores Finnish different-sex couples’ (n = 12) negotiations on their parental division of labour. Theoretically, the article is based on the literature on gendered parenting practices and relational negotiations. Our discourse analysis reveals how the couples produced ‘togetherness’ and ‘our family’ by representing their care practices as agreements, irrespective of whether the care was described as equally shared or distinctly gendered. Disagreements reflecting more individualistic tones, and mainly resulting from the mothers’ sense of unfairness, were especially foregrounded when the distribution of household duties was discussed. The analysis also revealed how men cited involved fatherhood as a justification for their lesser responsibility for housework, while women sought to reconcile the contradictory discourses of equal parenting and mother’s primacy. Our results show how personal wishes and preferences, work life, family policies and cultural discourses are reflected in couples’ negotiations on parenting practices and moral identities pertaining to ‘good’ motherhood and fatherhood.

Equal Parenting Time

This chapter reviews several sources of evidence bearing on the question of whether equal parenting time with both parents is in the best interests of children of divorce. First, the scientific evidence consists of correlational findings that meet four conditions necessary for a causal role of parenting time: A legal context that constrains the possibility of self-selection; a “dose-response” association between parenting time and father-child relationships; positive outcomes when parents disagree and courts impose more parenting time; and negative outcomes when relocations separate fathers and children. Second, the cultural evidence is that norms about parenting roles have changed in the last generation, and this is reflected in public endorsement of equal parenting time. Third, test-case evidence comes from the 2013 equal parenting law in Arizona, which has been evaluated positively by the state’s family law professionals. Finally, examples from recent Canadian case law show courts responding to the new cultural norms by crafting individualized equal parenting time orders over one parent’s objections even in cases of high parent conflict, accompanied by well-reasoned judicial opinions about how that is in children’s best interests. The chapter concludes that the overall pattern of evidence indicates that legal presumptions of equal parenting time would help protect children’s emotional security with each of their divorced parents, and consequently would have a positive effect on public health in the form of reduced long-term stress-related mental and physical health problems among children of divorce.

Parental Groups During Pregnancy and the Child's First Year: Swedish Parents' Experiences

The aim of the study was to assess parents' experience of parental support given before and after childbirth in a mid-Sweden region. A coherent education program implemented in a mid-Sweden region was evaluated. Data from two different samples of parents was collected through questionnaires. From the antenatal classes 563 women and men took part in the study. The other sample consisted of 176 parents from the child health care classes. The vast majority of parents from both groups were content with the sessions and their overall view was very positive. Both men and women felt strengthened before birth and in their parental role. New knowledge about breastfeeding and children's needs were gained. New thoughts about equal parenting and children's needs and development were achieved to a limited extent.