The modern family unit is complex and diverse and includes:
Traditional families - 65%
One parent families - 26%
Step families - 5%
Blended families - 3%
Same-sex families
Multi-generational families (grandparents rearing grandchildren)
A father may not be biologically related to his child or live with his child all the time. He might be a grandfather, step-father, foster father, or adoptive father. Children can have no father figure, more than one father, or have relationships with other males who parent and care for them.
He may work full or part-time, or be a stay at home dad with the children while his partner goes to work, or in a family where neither parent works.
Our Father of the Year competition is open to families with any of these father figures, and we have had one grandfather declared a winner in recent times.
The planning committee is acutely aware that children have varying experiences of who is a father to them, and of the fact that most but not all fathers are positive influences in their lives.
Our region has higher-than-average rates of family violence, child abuse, increasing illicit drug use, all factors likely to impinge on a child’s experience of family life. Not every child’s experience with their father is a positive one. It has been said that any male can be a father, but it takes some-one special to be a great dad.
Given this sad reality, it was refreshing and reassuring to read so many positive accounts.
Warrnambool has about 5,000 households with children. 3,500 are couples with children, 1,500 are single parents with children, 85% single mums, 15% single dads.
Traditional Two Parent Couple Fathers with their own Biological Children
Most of the children submitting entries in this years Father of the Year came from the family as traditionally known.
They highlighted fathers who
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Spend time with their children.
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Give them a sense of personal safety.
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Teach them skills like football and motor bike riding.
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Are fun to be with.
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Help provide them with life’s necessities and luxuries.
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Take them places.
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Engage in physical closeness with hugs and tickles.
Of particular interest was the many positive accounts of farming fathers in our rural communities.
Step Fathers
One in three Australian marriages end in divorce resulting in just over 1 million, or one in five (21%), having a natural parent living elsewhere, 81% being fathers. Around 55,000 children under 18 years experience the divorce of their parents each year, and most will encounter their re-marriage with other partners. One in ten Australian couple families contain resident step-children. Learning to live in a stepfamily is a complex process that can take years rather than months. There are many people to consider:
- the children of both partners, including the visiting children of one or both partners
- the children’s other parent and perhaps his/her new children and step-children
- grandparents and other extended family members
- children of new relationships
Lone Fathers
Lone fathers make up just 17% of all single parents, and may achieve that status through family breakdown or death of a partner. Such fathers must be both mother and father to their children.
Grandfathers As Father Substitutes
Australia has about 50,000 grandparent families, 1% of all families, 64% with dependent grandchildren. Grandparent families arise when the parents are unable to care for their children because of their mental health problems, alcohol or substance addictions, family violence, child abuse, parents in gaol, incarceration, death or neglect.
Same Sex Couple Parents
Very few children have two resident dads. Most same sex attracted parents are women. Their children appear to be doing well in terms of their overall health, and on most measures including emotional behaviour and physical functioning, they show no difference when compared with children from the general population.
Foster Fathers
Foster care is provided to children and young people who, for a variety of reasons, are unable to live with their own families. The need for carers to take older children and sibling groups is particularly acute. Some children sadly experience many foster families as they grow up.
Conclusion
Trends in the formation and stability of families have changed in striking ways over past decades, as have the roles of parents, whether they live together or apart. Father of the Year takes note of these changes and seeks to incorporate them into a meaningful event that highlights the best aspects of effective fathering.
