Shadow Communities Secretary Mark Isherwood AM has called on the Welsh Government to respond to a survey which found that nearly 80 per cent of fathers think the Welsh Government should do more to help them.
Mr Isherwood, himself a father-of-six, this week challenged the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children, Carl Sargeant AM, in the Assembly Chamber over the lack of support for fathers in Wales.
He said:
“The 2016 UK Annual Fatherhood Survey found that 25 per cent of Dads said there wasn’t enough support to help them play a positive role in family life. In Wales, the Welsh Dads Survey 2017, which has only just been published, found that although most fathers and father figures do not have obvious problems with their care giving, two thirds still felt their role wasn’t valued equally with the other parent by authorities and society, and nearly 80 per cent think the Government, i.e. Welsh Government, should do more to help fathers. How do you respond to that, where the concerns primarily relate to the way systems seem to work in public sector bodies, rather than the intent of the people delivering those systems?”
The Cabinet Secretary said he would be happy to have a conversation with Mr Isherwood regarding “detail on where he seems to feel that there is some lacking support.”
Mr Isherwood added:
“In Scotland last year, Fathers Network Scotland, supported by the Scottish Government, celebrated Year of the Dad, celebrating fatherhood and the importance of fathers in child development and parenting; calling on services and employers to support dads and embrace family-friendly inclusive practice; and acknowledging that today’s father can be single or married, externally employed or a stay-at-home dad, gay or straight, and may not even be the biological father. They could be grandfathers, uncles, foster fathers, adoptive fathers, or step fathers, but much is now expected of them.
“Wales lags behind in recognising and acting on this vital issue and its implications for our society today – this needs to change.”
ENDS