Fathers who read stories, sing, draw and play with their children have a “unique and important effect” on their children’s educational outcomes, according to new research from the University of Leeds.
Such children showed a “small but significant” increase in their educational attainment at primary school, and do better at school by the age of five, the study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, showed.
The study analysed primary school test scores for five-and-seven-year olds, using a representative sample of nearly 5,000 mother-father households in England. The sample came from the Millenium Cohort Study – which collected data on children born from 2000-2002 as they grew up.
Just ten minutes of such engagement daily “could have beneficial impacts”, according to the research, which was led by the University of Leeds. Dads’ involvement made a positive difference in children’s school achievement regardless of the child’s gender, ethnicity, age in the school year and household income, according to the report.
The study, published last week, also found that greater involvement from fathers before their child starts primary school provides an educational advantage to children in their first year of school, while higher levels of involvement at the age of five helps boost attainment in key stage 1 assessments at seven years old.
Researchers found that the effect is slightly more pronounced when it comes to maths. The research distinguished between the impact of mothers and that of fathers; while the involvement of a father impacted educational attainment, mothers had more of an impact on the emotional and social behaviours of the child.
Dr Helen Norman, of Leeds University business school, who authored the study, said:
“Mothers still tend to assume the primary carer role and therefore tend to do the most childcare, but if fathers actively engage in childcare too, it significantly increases the likelihood of children getting better grades in primary school. This is why encouraging and supporting fathers to share childcare with the mother, from an early stage in the child’s life, is critical.”
Researchers made the recommendation that dads should set aside as much time as possible to engage in playful, educational activities with their children weekly.
They said: “Engaging in multiple types of structured activities several times a week – even if just for short periods of time – helps to enrich a child’s cognitive and language development.”
The study made the recommendation that schools and early years providers should routinely note both parents’ contact details, where possible, in order to create more positive strategies to engage fathers. It also recommended that the UK’s Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) should include father engagement in inspections.
Andrew Gwynne MP, Chair of All-Parliamentary Party Group on Fatherhood, said that fathers shouldn’t be “treated as an afterthought” when it comes to their children’s development.
“This study shows that even small changes in what fathers do, and in how schools and early years settings engage with parents, can have a lasting impact on children’s learning. It’s absolutely crucial that fathers aren’t treated as an afterthought,” the MP, commenting on the research, said.
Dr Jeremy Davies, Head of Impact and Communications at the Fatherhood Institute, who co-authored the report, added: “Our analysis has shown that fathers have an important, direct impact on their children’s learning. We should be recognising this and actively finding ways to support dads to play their part, rather than engaging only with mothers, or taking a gender-neutral approach.”