The Equal Parenting Project at the University of Birmingham undertakes research focused on breaking down barriers to encourage more fathers to care in the first year after birth or adoption. This small change can help: families to spend more time together, fathers to bond more with their children early on and support gender equality.
- The ‘Fathers in the Workplace Toolkit’ is a practical evidenced based toolkit underpinned by academic research undertaken by the Equal Parenting Project.
- The toolkit consists of five modules including: A Parenting Passport, Setting up a Parenting Group, Inclusive Communications, Inclusive Policies and Supporting Return to Work. It is a living toolkit and will be updated as the research develops and new needs are identified.
- The toolkit builds upon extant data which shows that fathers increasingly want to spend more time caring in the first year (Curtice et al., 2019; EHRC, 2016).
- The toolkit aims to break down barriers in order to encourage more fathers to take on childcare to improve outcomes for families and children and drive gender equality.
- The toolkit aims to improve access to information and support for fathers and parents, it offers examples of fathers successfully caring in order to normalise fathers taking leave. The toolkit also outlines the business benefits of such an approach.
- The toolkit has a section for large organisations and a separate section for SME’s, recognising that different types of organisations face different challenges in this area and have different levels of available resources.