Around one in six children do not live with their fathers full-time, report finds
The
Economic and Social Research Institute
(ESRI) has published its scoping study examining the profiles of fathers who do not live with their children full-time, termed in the report as 'non-resident fathers', and their relationships with their children.
It comes as NGOs and separated parents have emphasised the importance of including non-resident fathers in research studies.
The report used data from the long-running Growing Up in Ireland study. The study uses data from two separate cohorts – a cohort from 1998, who were aged 9 at the first interview in 2007, and from 2008, who were aged 9 months in the first wave in 2008.
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The report found that 14% of children aged between 9 months and 5-years-old did not live with their fathers, rising to 18% by the age of 9. Half of non-resident fathers see their babies or toddlers several times a week, mothers reported, while families with fathers that did not live with their children tended to have younger mothers with lower levels of education, likely to live in urban areas.
Around a third of children aged between 5 and 9 see their fathers at least a few times a week. Just over a quarter of non-resident fathers have little to no contact with their children.
'Although the non-resident fathers surveyed tend to be actively involved in their children's lives, around half of them would like more frequent contact with their child,' the report said.
Co-author of the report Emer Smyth said that research needs to provide a 'comprehensive' picture of the range of influences on children's lives, including their parents who may not live with them.
'A significant proportion of children – around one-in-six – do not live with their father full-time, so not including their father gives only an incomplete picture of their lives. Parents can differ in their perceptions of the father-child relationship, so capturing both perspectives is important,' she said.
Some 38% of mothers separated from their child's father receive regular payments in the case where the child primarily lives with their mother. Another 11% receive payments when needed for a particular purpose.
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