On Resident Parents

Lone parents have greater advice needs than other family types. A survey carried out by the Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC) showed that two-thirds of lone parents had experienced a civil justice problem in the last three-and-a-half years. The three most common problem areas for lone parents in our survey were benefits, contact and debt - 69 per cent had to deal with benefits issues, 53 per cent with contact and 48 per cent with debt.
Advice needs of lone parents2004 for One Parent Families, Richard Moorhead, Mark Sefton and Gillian Douglas of Cardiff Law School, Cardiff University.

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On Non-Resident Mothers

Men and women’s differing experience of separation after co-habitation:

Quoted from JRF Findings may 2002 www.jrf.org.uk;
In interviews with fifty parents who had cohabited and then separated, it (Lancaster University Study) looked at how fathers and mothers described their cohabitation, the role of the father in the relationship and his continued involvement once the relationship dissolved. The researchers found that:

Respondents compared marriage and cohabitation in three main ways: as indistinguishable and in which one or other form is a preferable arrangement. A majority described cohabitation as a moral obligation or commitment equivalent to marriage, but also as more ‘honest’, with change and dissolution seen as part of a negotiation process rather than a breach of marriage vows.
72 per cent of these unmarried mothers and fathers proclaimed strong beliefs in egalitarian gender roles.
Almost half (47 per cent) of these fathers were reported to have a major or equally shared involvement in their children’s care when they were cohabiting.
However, often the separation was attributed to the man’s ‘immaturity’ either in failing to provide for his family or in trying to break away from this ‘traditional’ expectation. This view was expressed mainly by women.
There was a deeply held assumption, mainly by mothers, that maternal ‘rights’ have a primacy over paternal responsibility.
After separation the man’s role in childcare dropped considerably even if he had been the primary carer of his child. The mothers were depicted by both mothers and fathers as being in control of paternal contact, whether by keeping fathers at arms’ length or encouraging their involvement.
A number of factors hampered the continuation of paternal care of the child, including the size and location of the father’s new home, negotiations with their ex-partner over money and the lack of a strong social support network for fathers.
Many fathers felt powerless in their attempts to maintain their contact with and responsibilities towards their children.
The full report, Cohabitation, separation and fatherhood by Charlie Lewis, Amalia Papacosta and Jo Warin, is published for the Foundation by YPS (ISBN 184263 58 X, price £13.95).

An Australian perspective on non resident mothers:
“Influences on Parent-Child Relationships in Non-custodial Mothers” by Anne McMurray 1992 taken from Australian Journal of Marriage & Family, Vol 13, No 3, pp 138-147. http://users.tpg.com.au/users/resolve/ncpreport/mcmurray(1992).html

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On Fathers and children

Research shows that where fathers have early involvement in a child’s life:

there is a positive relationship to later educational achievement;
there is an association with good parent-child relationship in adolescence; and
children in separated families are more protected from mental health problems.
Department for Education & Skills: Every Parent Matters Guidance

In particular, a father’s interest in a child’s schooling is strongly linked to educational outcomes for the child.
Department for Education & Skills: Every Parent Matters Guidance

The results of this study do suggest that father-adolescent bonds play an important role in the development of social and emotional adjustment.
Rice, K.G., Cunningham, T.J. & Young, M.B, ‘Attachment to parents, social competence, and emotional wellbeing: A comparison of black and white late adolescents,’ Journal of Counselling Psychology, 44(1), 1997, pp 89-101.

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On Non-Resident Fathers

From “Fathers and the Modern Family” an analysis of the Millennium Cohort Surveys (MCS) commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission 2007:

One of the aspects of contemporary family life is that family formation is less stable than 30 years ago, and relationship breakdown more common. Lone parenthood has increased and a significant minority of fathers do not reside with their children. Around 15 per cent of MCS babies were born to parents who were not in a union and living together, so the analysis contains fascinating data on the extent to which non-resident fathers are involved in their young children's lives. The evidence shows that the majority of absent fathers were still in contact with their children, although the quality and degree of involvement differed depending on the parents' relationship and was liable to change over time.

In many cases, non-resident fathers maintained close contact with their child, but this varied depending on the friendliness of the father’s and mother’s relationship.

The majority of babies born to parents who were not living together were unplanned, but one in two fathers were present at the birth, and two-thirds were named as the father on the child's birth certificate (Kiernan, 2005).
Being at the child's birth and the formally recorded father were strong predictors of the father's future contact with, and involvement in, their child's life (Kiernan, 2005).
64 per cent of non-resident fathers were still in contact when their child was 9-10 months old, but this was highly correlated with the nature of the relationship between the parents. Where the mother had a very friendly relationship with the father, 94 per cent of fathers were very interested in their child, compared with only 26 per cent of fathers being very interested where the parents were unfriendly.
Just over a third of in-contact absent fathers saw their 9-10 month old child daily, and the level of contact rose the more interested he was in the child and the better his relationship with the mother.
Non-resident fathers were also involved in childcare, but to a lesser extent than fathers who lived with their children. Around 1 in 8 employed lone mothers used the non-resident father for childcare.

The parents' relationship with each other also had an impact on the likelihood of the father to support their child financially.

Where fathers were in contact, rates of paying maintenance were far higher for fathers who had an interest in their child (59 per cent) than for those who had little interest (33 per cent).
Similarly, rates of payment were higher the friendlier the father’s relationship with the mother, and where there was a higher frequency of contact between the father and child: 63 per cent who saw their child daily paid maintenance compared with 32 per cent who saw the child less than weekly.
29 per cent of fathers who had been involved with their child at 9-10 months had little or no interest by the time the child was 3. In contrast, 36 per cent of fathers who had little or no interest at 9-10 months were said to be interested or very interested in their three year old.
There were also changes in the frequency of contact between the two age groups with movement in both directions, from less contact at 9-10 months to more at age three, and vice versa.

When children rarely or never see their fathers, they tend to:

demonise or idealise them (Kraemer, 2005; Gorrell Barnes et al, 1998)
blame themselves for their absence (Pryor & Rodgers, 2001)
suffer substantial distress, anger and self-doubt (Fortin et al, 2006; Laumann-Billings & Emery, 1998)
Although in some cases removing the father improves the situation for children, their situation more often becomes worse (e.g. when fathers go to prison) (Guterman & Lee, 2005)
Paternal care of infants and young children by unemployed or low income males from unpromising backgrounds can facilitate productive engagement with family and society (Brannen & Nilson, 2006; Warin et al, 1999; Speak, 1997)