A report, What Good are Dads?, by academics at Lancaster University, looks at the impact of fatherhood spanning 20 years. It found that fathers particularly helped in preparing children for the outside world and in developing social skills.
The report, published by four groups, Fathers Direct, the National Family and Parenting Institute, Working with Men and Newpin Fathers Support Centre, said, 'In families where fathers offer kindness, care and warmth during the primary school years, their children are likely to do well at secondary school. The involvement of the father with the child at the age of seven and 11 has been shown to predict the number of national examination passes at age 16.'
The report also found that both fathers' and mothers' emotional responses to their newborn babies were the same. A crying or smiling baby had the same effect on the parent's heart rate and blood pressure. Fathers were also as responsive as mothers when feeding their babies by responding appropriately when the infant wanted to pause or splutter.
Professor Charlie Lewis, who led the research, said, 'We now know how positive fathering can be right from the start, providing crucial support to new mothers and contributing to many aspects of child development. Our report also demonstrates that the old picture of most fathers simply being breadwinners is inaccurate, as dads step in more and more to take over the tasks left by mothers at work.
'However, our research also shows the problems dads have in fulfilling their caring role, working the longest hours in Europe and often lacking self-confidence.'
Many fathers wanted to use their time to be actively involved in their children's lives and this is borne out by a small study in Greater Pilton, Edinburgh, in which the Edinburgh Family Service Unit interviewed 20 local fathers about their experiences.
The report said, 'Almost all of the men interviewed were highly committed to their children. They saw their job as getting a better life for their children. This was expressed both in terms of material gain and quality of life themes, such as happiness and good health.
'The majority said it was up to them to give the children a good start and help them not to repeat the mistakes they had made.'
More than half the men said they would value unpatronising advice and help with parenting, and having more male workers in childcare would also enable them to be more comfortable in approaching services.