Support services sideline teenage dads, charities warn

The report by the Family Strategic Partnership, whose members include Barnardo’s and The Family and Parenting Institute, says services from pregnancy care to housing support “are driving fathers apart from their children through a culture where fathers are not valued”.

Are We Nearly There Yet, Dad calls on all councils to appoint a lead professional for young fathers to make sure that local services are “dad friendly”.

It also urges central government to support councils in developing ways to collect statistics on teenage fathers and says that all professionals should promote the importance of strong father and child relationships across services including prisons, schools and health.

The Department for Education-funded report is particularly critical of maternity services for ignoring fathers, which it says must start recording young fathers’ details during pregnancy as a matter of course.

The report also encourages children’s centres to offer more father-led parenting sessions and organise father and baby days out, and says that centre staff should also routinely ask mothers about the father of their child.

It adds that teenage fathers are more likely to be classed as Neet (not in education, employment or training) and calls for programmes that target this group to take into account the needs of young fathers.

Jonathan Rallings, Barnardo’s assistant director of policy and research, warned that services too often make young fathers feel that they are “worthless”, by ignoring or marginalising them from the point of pregnancy onwards.

“To be properly involved in their children’s lives, young dads need the same kind of support as teen mums,” he said. “This includes easily accessible parenting advice, help with housing, and special timetabling for training and study.

“We are calling on local authorities to help lead a cultural shift in family care, by introducing practices across their services that universally support young dads’ journeys into fatherhood.”