Learnings
Dadly Does It is uniquely positioned to listen to fathers whose voices have previously been unheard.
Our Findings
Our learning strongly suggests that improving the well-being of fathers from disadvantaged backgrounds can improve the well-being of their children. It also appears to have the potential to improve the quality of family relationships and to provide benefits to the well-being of partners and ex-partners.
Workers verified that they saw changes in fathers. This reduced the resources they needed to allocate, or were likely to allocate in future, to support some of the families
“He was saying ‘I go to Salford Dadz and we do things with the children’ and he was saying how they sit down and do craft things and he was explaining some very positive interaction.”
-Social worker
Greater confidence in fathers has a ripple effect, leading to greater self-confidence in their children. Children report:
- An increased amount of time spent with their fathers
- Improvements in trust and respect between the children and their fathers, and related improvements in their own behaviour
- Improvements in relationships between their parents and greater enjoyment in relationships within the home
Partners and ex-partners see benefits for themselves in terms of:
- Improved relationships
- Creating a more positive view about men
- Greater sharing of parenting
- Providing them with more time to either relax or develop their own lives and interests
“[My daughter] was a very quiet child, but now she is outspoken in the right way. Tactful.”
- Mother, Little Hulton