Traditional Fathers Influence On Children's Wellbeinging

Introduction
Everybody has got their own idea of the father’s role in the family. In the western world, the role of the father is not as defined as the mother’s role. There are two types of fathers, the traditional father and more recently, the modern father. The image of the traditional father is seen as the breadwinner of the house who works hard to provide for his family but he is often absent from the child’s life both physically and emotionally. The image of the modern father is of a father who actively takes part in the child’s upbringing and can often be seen changing nappies, bringing the child out on walks and bringing them to school. There is also positive and negative views of fathers. Many fathers are very loving and adoring towards …show more content…
The educational attainment of the parents also has an impact on the wellbeing of a child. Parents with a high level of education often have good well paid jobs so as a result they have more disposable income so they can better provide for their child’s material needs. Single parent families where the mother is the sole provider, do not have as much disposable income so the child’s wellbeing may be affected. With regard to the child’s relational wellbeing, if there is a lot of conflict within a family, particularly between the two parents, then this can affect a child’s wellbeing. Divorce can have a huge impact on the child even if there is not much conflict. Often after divorce, the children live with their mother which means the father has to leave the family home (Peterson & Zill, 1986). Fathers have got a big influence on their child’s wellbeing. Research conducted in recent years has concluded that there are many advantages of the child’s father having an active role in the care and upbringing of the child. These advantages include 1) social benefits for example, children who are guided and encouraged by their father often become more productive and caring in life, 2) educational benefits such as fathers who provide a warm and loving relationship with their child often perform better in primary school and 3) behavioural benefits for example, children are less likely to engage in criminal behaviour if they have a father figure in their life before the age of 11 (Flouri, 2005). Majority of father’s want to be involved in their child’s life but they may not always have the opportunity to do so as a result of traditional views of mother and fathers roles, with many fathers feeling that they have to justify their desire to have a more active parenting role in the child’s life as a