Formal and informal sources of paternal support in early parenthood

ABSTRACT

Extra-familial support has been proven to be an important resource for families during early parenthood, but little attention has been paid to what supports should be available for fathers specifically and how fathers perceive different sources of support during early parenthood in the twenty-first century. This study examined Finnish fathers’ (N = 1069) regarding the following topics: (a) the support sources perceived as primary by the fathers and (b) the association between the father’s socio-economic status (SES) and his overall need for extra-familial support and (c) the association between the father’s SES, family structure and the perceived level of instrumental support sources available for parenting and childcare tasks. Most of the fathers’ perceptions highlight the role played by informal support sources in providing assistance for parenting and childcare. The results of binary logistic regression suggest that fathers of lower SES are more likely to have an increased need for extra-familial support.

KEYWORDS:

• Family relations
• early parenthood
• fatherhood
• social support

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all the families who took part in this study, the midwives for their help in recruiting them and the entire STEPS study team.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

PhD candidate Marko Lähteenmäki has graduated from the University of Turku in 2007 as a Master of Arts. In 2008, he started to work in Turku institute for Child and Youth Research Institute, first as a Planning Officer and were also interested in research concerning families with small children. In 2014, he started Doctoral candidate at University of Turku in the department of education. As a part of Finnish follow-up study named “Steps to the Healthy Development and Well-being of Children” (The STEPS study), his research is focused father's social networks in early parenthood. Email: [email protected],+ 358 50 3395363.

PhD candidate Sevcan Hakyemez-Paul has graduated from the Middle East Technical University in Turkey in 2009 as an early childhood educator. Then, in the University of Turku, Finland, she started to work on her Master's degree, which focused on parental involvement in the Turkish context. After completing her Master's degree she started to work on her Doctoral degree in the same university, where her research compares Finland and Turkey regarding parental and paternal involvement practices and paternal views on involvement in early childhood education. Email: [email protected],[phone].

Adjunct professor Päivi Pihlaja is a University Researcher in at the University of Turku, Finland, Department of Education. She was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 2004. Her dissertation dealt with early childhood special education. Dr. Pihlaja has published about 100 scientific publications (books and articles). Her research interests in special education are inclusive education and social and emotional difficulties in childhood. Her research in early childhood education has focused widely on day care. Currently she is a member of a large follow-up study with a multidisciplinary orientation, the Steps study and a group leader to a subgroup with educational orientation (EduSteps).

ORCID

Marko Lähteenmäki http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8977-4867

Päivi Pihlaja http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1393-3104