Pandemic spurs dads to become Hands on Parents

With parents forced to work from home and children learning at home, male parents had never-before opportunities to participate in child care, nurturance and education duties usually dispensed by overworked mothers, writes Aruna Raghuram  If there is a bright spot of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns and related restrictions, it’s that it gave millennial parents, in particular males, time and opportunity to bond with their children. With parents forced to work from home and children learning at home, male parents had never-before opportunities to participate in child care, nurturance and education duties usually dispensed by overworked mothers. A 2020 Harvard University study titled How the Pandemic is Strengthening Fathers’ Relationships with their Children revealed that 70 percent of male parents reported “feeling closer to their children” during the pandemic. According to the study, male parents reported “more meaningful conversations, sharing more with their children about their own lives, and discovered new, common interests”. In India as well, within middle class households, the pandemic spurred dads to get more involved in their children’s lives, and share household chores. “During the pandemic there has been a trend of dads pitching in to help with household chores and parenting responsibilities. But this trend is mostly among young parents in their 20s-30s, and in double-income households. This has enabled children to become better acquainted with male parenting and learn important lessons in gender equality,” says Dr. Gaurang Jani, a Ahmedabad-based sociologist with special interest in gender studies. Dr. Jani says that although parenting equations are changing with many dads transforming into hands-on parents during the pandemic, in traditional families, there is still a, “communication wall ” between fathers and children. “In conservative, traditional households, mothers are care givers and fathers are rarelyat-home financial providers. There is little involvement of dads in children’s day-to-day lives. This is unfortunate as active involvement of both parents helps to nurture happy, contented and healthy children,” he says. Several recent research studies have highlighted that children greatly benefit socially, cognitively and emotionally from greater involvement of male parents in child nurturance. A loving, supportive and involved father can contribute greatly to the children’s cognitive and social development as well as academic achievement. A 2019 University of Georgia study titled How Fathers, Children Should Spend Time Together found that the type of involvement — caregiving vs play — and the timing — workday vs non-workday — positively impacts the quality of fatherchild relationship. It concluded that fathers who spend considerable time “helping out with child care-related tasks on workdays develop the best relationships with their children”. Nidhi Sharma, a Mumbai-based family therapist and work-life balance coach, believes the unprecedented pandemic lockdown compelled parents to collaborate, cooperate and share household and parenting responsibilities. “Earlier, male parents tended to be less involved in child care. But with the pandemic having hugely disrupted family and work lives, fathers have had to step up and share parenting duties. Involvement and support of both parents positively boosted the confidence of young children. However in the case…