One of Sure Start's greatest strengths is the buy-in and commitment it has won from parents, well, mothers. The one fly in the ointment is the paucity of fathers taking part. In fact, last August, a University of London-led evaluation of the role of dads revealed that 36 per cent of national programmes had low provision for them and only 12 per cent had high.
There are many reasons why fathers should get involved in raising their families, but perhaps the most important are the personal and social benefits for children. For example, last month Oxford University researchers showed that children who are close to their fathers do better in exams. In 2002, the same university found that hands-on dads are less likely to have daughters with mental health problems and sons who commit crime.
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