Launch of the new Dads In Distress website

Dads in Distress Support Services are excited to announce that we have redeveloped our website. Now we can keep you better informed of our new and improved services and events, as well as general issues affecting fathers and families. One of the many innovative features provided by the highly professional (and sympathetic) web designers Webforce Five, is our ability to tailor-make how we help you, whether you are a dad experiencing separation, or a family member, concerned citizen, volunteer, professional or politician. By taking five minutes to join the website we can automatically alert you of only the information that is relevant or of interest to you.

Child custody, access and parental responsibility: the search for a just and equitable standard

Edward Kruk, professor of social work at the University of British Columbia, proposes a four-pillar approach to child custody determination in Canada (or elsewhere for that matter). The paper examines the issues, surveys approaches in UK, USA, Sweden and Australia, examines Canadian Child custody legislation at a provincial level, reviews Canadian efforts to make changes, and critiques the traditional sole custody approach as a basis leading up to the universal four-pillar approach for Equal Parenting.

Contribute to a New Australian Book - Dad: The Best Job in the World

Invitation

You are invited to contribute to a new and wholly Australian book entitled 'Dad: The Best Job in the World'.  My intention for the book is to give voice to the often publically silent role and influence of fathers in the care, nurture and development of our children.

Becoming a Dad: Employment Trajectories of Married, Cohabiting, and Nonresident Fathers

This article considers how becoming a father affects men's employment levels and tests whether the effects of fatherhood differ by the relationship of the father to the child's mother at the time of the birth. Prior to becoming a father, married men worked more hours per week and more weeks per year than cohabiting and nonresident fathers. By five years after the birth, differences in employment between unmarried and married fathers had diminished. The transition to fatherhood is associated with an increase in employment for unmarried fathers but is not associated with significant changes in employment for married fathers.

The Problem with Caution

Well publicised voices have been raised to question the wisdom and benefits of the shared parenting provisions of the amended Family Law Act. Some have pointed to suggestions of harm for children. Generally these affirmations have not been supported by research nor clinical data, and have been made without reference to contrasting studies and the experience of practitioners in the field. "Cautionary Notes" reveals elevated levels of stress in children in some situations of shared care, but fails to analyse the root causes of that stress and to describe strategies for its remediation. The authors argue that its call for caution in the application of shared care is not soundly based.